(Arctic) East Coast Sea Ice to date Much like Final Yr – ?

From Polar Bear Science

Dr. Susan Crockford,

Davis Strait ice pack is slowly transferring south this 12 months simply as shorefast ice is growing in-place alongside the Labrador shoreline, much like final 12 months. East Coast harp seals that give beginning within the area in March rely upon this ice and so do many Davis Strait polar bears that feed on these new child seals. In distinction, in 2017 the ice off Labrador was broader by mid-January (even extra so by mid-February) and that appears to have made an enormous distinction by April, when ice north of Newfoundland was thick and intensive.

In comparison with final 12 months right now, there was considerably much less ice alongside the Labrador coast however the distinction is admittedly negligible. By April, ice extent was properly under common, particularly within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and there have been few sightings of polar bears alongside the Labrador and Newfoundland coasts.

Again in 2017 on the identical time (under), the band of ice alongside the southern Labrador coast was a lot broader, indicating extra motion of Davis Strait ice from the north. This resulted in so many polar bear sightings in Newfoundland and Labrador by March and April that I may hardly sustain reporting them (Crockford 2019:32):

East coast circumstances may change considerably over the following few weeks nevertheless, particularly if climate circumstances deliver extra north winds.

References

Crockford, S.J. 2019. State of the Polar Bear Report 2018. World Warming Coverage Basis Report 32, London. PDF right here.

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