Comment by metalman

well then you know that at the bottom of the curve, the ice area is more about potential, than anything that you could actualy see, or walk on, even at "100%" ice cover a strong wind will clear it and no huskys have peed on it. The other factor, mentioned nowhere, is that with so much glacial melting, the top layer of sea water is fresher, and freezes easier, so with each passing year things go further out of calibration. It's worth mentioning that I live inside the zone used for seasonal sea ice mapping, and regularly check the goes sattelites, and what is charted as ice, very often looks like open water, so...thanks for the link!