[Please click on the image of January 23, 2009, to enlarge it and see the details. The details are larger if you go to the original image at the site, but they don't keep images up more than a day or two. Credit: Envisat.]

Dear Readers,

I don't often write a personal post in this blog ("Just stick to the facts, ma'am.").

But, I have been looking at the daily composite satellite photos from Envisat of the Arctic Sea ice and of Greenland, and it is very clear that the sea ice is in an extremely fragile and thin state in areas where once multi-year ice was fast, firm, and thick. And, as to Greenland, to my untrained eye, it seems that the amount of snow cover over land is much less than I would have expected, and the small grey dots that indicate melt ponds are just as numerous as they were some months ago.

It is not a very heartening sight, that is for sure.

To see the most recent images, first go to this page:

http://www.seaice.dk/latest-ice.html

Then click on the far left rectangle.