Russ Steele
Sea Ice melting has been delayed by Mother Nature in 2012.
As you can see from the graphic sea ice melting has been delayed by at least a month in both 2010, to a lesser degree in 2011 and certainly in 2012.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSICD), “ice cover remained extensive in the Bering Sea, where it has been above average all winter. “
“Ice extent was also higher than average in Baffin Bay, between Greenland and Canada, and the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Russia.”
“Air temperatures were 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) below average over the Bering Sea, Baffin Bay, and parts of the Sea of Okhotsk.”
“Overall, the Arctic gained 140,000 square kilometers (54,000 square miles) of ice during March. Typically, March has been a month of net ice loss (an average of 260,000 square kilometers [100,000 square miles] for 1979 to 2000), but the last three Marches have had net ice growth.”
Annual ice growing is how ice ages get started. We need to see how much ice melts this summer and the ice growth in the winter of 2013. Stay Tuned!
H/T to Ice Age Now.
The Next Grand Minimum 
It’s interesting that this gets no press attention at all. Can you imagine how huge this would be if there were abnormal melting? We know there is a lag effect of as much as a full solar cycle before we see the results of a grand solar minimum. I believe we are only beginning to see the effects of a lower cycle 23. The effects of a grand minimum could be dramatic. If cycles 24-25 prove to be a true grand minimum, we will be in the deep freeze by 2030! Man will somehow be blamed again for natural variability.
Man will be blamed for thinking he understood everything, as usual.