Okay, am I nuts/an idiot, or does this show that the North Pole is basically ice-free...

[truebrit71]

.. https://sites.google.com/site/apocalypse4realseaice2012/home/sea-ice-concentration-and-thickness-comparison

Look at the 08/19/2012 picture...

[phantom power]

1. those maps are ice thickness, and the color scheme is a bit misleading

Here is a map that shows ice cover - the pole has ice. However, the maps you saw do show that there is very little multi-year ice left up there.

[truebrit71]

2. Okay, so I wasn't seeing things..

..the ice that's there is about one meter thick...wow..

[Waltons_Mtn]

3. Your picture shows ice cover in the Great Lakes.

In August! Really?

[XemaSab]

5. For some reason the peripheral areas of Cryosphere Today

are showing ice where there isn't any.

There is no ice in the Great Lakes.

[Sanity Claws]

4. I sure hope Santa and his elves know how to swim

Maybe one of us should go up there and teach them. Bring some sunscreen too.

[appleannie1]

6. Still ice but not very thick.

[Triloon]

7. north pole pic o' the day

[truebrit71]

8. Holy mackerel!!

(Where did Santa's house go???)

[stuntcat]

9. hey ty

welcome to DU!

[XemaSab]

11. There are some poles missing at the pole

Which three loons do you speak of?

Pacific, red-necked, and common? Or is yellow-billed included in there somewhere?

[OnlinePoker]

12. Just looked up the NPEO data

The webcams have now drifted south to 83.113 degrees and are entering the top of the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard. The temperature is a balmy 0.2c.

http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Nuts/idiot ? Only collectively. nt

[truebrit71]

13. Sorry? I don't get your point?

Care to elucidate?

[eppur_se_muova]

14. As a society, we are nuts/idiots ...

in that we continue to consume fossil fuels and spew GHGs unabated.

[truebrit71]

15. Aaaah thanks! That makes sense...

...sorry, I wasn't reading that right!!

[Nihil]

16. Don't forget ...

> Okay, am I nuts/an idiot, or does this show that the North Pole is basically ice-free...

... the answer could always be "all of the above" ...