Saturday, February 21, 2015

Thinnest ice at sea since the fifties – Swedish Radio

Thinnest ice at sea since the fifties – Swedish Radio

Not since the late 50th century, the ice cover in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Bothnia been so low this time of year as it is now. It is the warm autumn and mild winter in combination with the storm Ole few weeks ago that nearly cleared the Swedish Norrland coast on sea ice.

At isbrytarkajen in Luleå the unusually crowded to be this year. The two gulblåa icebreakers Ymir and Odin are moored in the mild February weather.

The ice is in and of themselves so far into the archipelago but further out into the Gulf of Bothnia, the ice situation basically non-existent except in the archipelagos of Piteå and north and most of the top of the Gulf of Bothnia. It says Lisa Lind who is an oceanographer at SMHI Ice Service.

– Yes, it would mean that we will probably have to add 2015 to the books as the mildest isåret we’ve seen since we began our iskartering since the late 50 century, says Lisa Lind.

It used to move in the northernmost archipelago this time of year are now prompted to think about the abnormal ice conditions may pose limitations. At the same time, it has meant a boost for merchant shipping, says Göran Fors, who is commander of the icebreaker Frej currently assists on the Finnish side where there is some packed ice at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia.

– There are many advantages for merchant shipping for the needs of course no assistance of icebreakers and in addition there will be no delays, in that they can go the normal speed that they have between ports. There is less wear on merchant shipping as well.

The question is, the extremely isfattiga winter is linked to climate change. It’s too early to tell from a single year, says Lisa Lind at SMHI and reminiscent of situation may some years ago.

– Yes, in 2011 we had the most severe winter since the mid 80′s so that can not say too much about climate change.

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