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According to JAXA, the Arctic melt season (date max minus date min) has gotten about 30 days shorter since 2005. If the melt season ends in the next eight days, 2012 will be the shortest on record.
www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/seaice/extent/plot.csv
It is possible that this will happen, because almost all of the remaining ice is thick (1-5 metres) and temperatures in about four days are forecast to get very cold across almost the entire ice pack. More likely it will come in second shortest after 2010.
1/12° Arctic Cap Nowcast/Forecast System (ACFNS)
It is worth remembering back to 2008, when Mark Serreze forecast an ice-free pole – because the ice was so thin. The core of the ice pack has thickened considerably since then.
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