Almost so bad it’s laughable.

“Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months.

The pictures, kept secret by Washington during the presidency of George W Bush, were declassified by the White House last week. President Barack Obama is currently trying to galvanise Congress and the American public to take action to halt catastrophic climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

One particularly striking set of images – selected from the 1,000 photographs released – includes views of the Alaskan port of Barrow. One, taken in July 2006, shows sea ice still nestling close to the shore. A second image shows that by the following July the coastal waters were entirely ice-free.

The photographs demonstrate starkly how global warming is changing the Arctic. More than a million square kilometres of sea ice – a record loss – were missing in the summer of 2007 compared with the previous year.”

Hmmmm….

Back in 2006 Barrow was hit by an Ice Surge, an abnormal accumulation of Ice, and not even the “normal” Ice accumulation for that area. Subsequently, as expected, it subsided the following year in 2007 in July.   Normally ice breaks up around this time of year, so 2006 was an abnormality, but with the accumulation of ice, not the absence.

Here’s a picture from the ice surge.

But aside from the seasonal appearance of the ice, it’s not just that easy fact that makes you doubt the picture. Barrow is a fishing port as as such a large amount of ships come and go through that area. Note the absence of lights (it’s a night picture) in the water.  It’s too “clean to have been a part of the photo.  It’s as if half the picture is missing.

Here’s a picture from a Barrow Sea Ice Cam, from today, 7/26/2009. You can see the ice clearly off the cost, just where it’s been all along.  Along with that here is the “Sea Ice Break-Up” outlook for Barrow Alaska.  According to the site it began on July 11th.

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