The reasons lie in the much larger amount of land in the northern hemisphere and the fact that the ocean's thermal inertia and ability to mix delay any temperature signal from the ongoing absorption of heat.

Did they explain this on RC?  I don't remember this being clarified.  

I'm pretty sure that this came up on RC at least a couple of times...maybe if Andrew Dessler reads this he can provide an more authoritative confirmation!

Invent a clever saying, and your name will live forever! -- Anonymous

I just did a search on real climate using the:

ttp://www.realclimate.org/index.php?s="SEARCH TERM"&submit=Search

hack.  I found the word "circumpolar" in one and only one main post.  And that post was not about polar amplification.  Sometimes I wonder about those guys.

yes, well, the gulf between scientists and the rest of us is hard for them to see!  But kudos go to them for the fine effort RC makes, as I know you would agree.

Invent a clever saying, and your name will live forever! -- Anonymous

yes, well, the gulf between scientists and the rest of us is hard for them to see!

Heh, I am a scientist!  I'm just in bio-tech and not climatology.  But yes, I know what you mean.  Heck I've given presentations that have gone over other peoples heads before.  So I guess I'm a sinner too.  :p

But kudos go to them for the fine effort RC makes, as I know you would agree.

Yes, I would agree.  I did not mean to insult them.  The guys at RC are world class researchers and even heroes IMO.  I'm just glad there are people like you.  Although I very rarely learn anything scientific from your blog posts I frequently learn a new way of communicating and bringing clarity to a concept.  And that is just as valuable!  So for that I consider you a world class communicator.

Keep up the great work.

"Although I very rarely learn anything scientific from your blog posts"

That's just because I read the RC forum first. :p  

The unintentional jerk,

wacki

Not to worry, I took it to mean that.  I won't complain, not after all the other kind words!

Invent a clever saying, and your name will live forever! -- Anonymous

You've misunderstood the report you linked to, which is referring to total Antarctic ice mass, rather than to sea ice.

Wow, the reasons the Global warming crowd through at us For more Sea Ice are just laughable. I'm a Sea Ice Forecaster in Alaska. there is at leat 33% more Antarctic Sea Ice than March 3, 2007. There was also an increase in 2007 from 2006 and maybe a minor one from 2005 to 2006. These so called climo experts say its due to warmer temps and water? Thats like telling me I'm cold because someone turned up the heat, or, my pop froze in the refrig beause I turned up the heat. How stupid do you think we are? The FACT is its getting colder. Antarctic cooling always begins first. You know the warmest earth year was 1998, 10 years ago. Maybe we have peaked the warming that began in the late 70s and now the earth is cooling. My gosh the Climo researchers might lose grant money over this. TWO more FACTS, Temperature rises always LEAD CO2 increases. Arctic sea Ice rebounded this winter to levels not seen, in some areas such as Iceland, in more than 40 years.

Sea Ice increases first, then Glacial, depending on precipitation. There is also a lag time from the warming to the cooling for ice increases. The recent warming ended in August 2005 and the cooling will increase further after about 7 to 10 years. Care to make a wager?

Hooray for the melting of the Arctic!  I call first dibs on the undersea oil and natural gas reserves.  Also, I'm selling futures on good Newfoundland coastal spots for ports and fisheries.  You all are just so confident the Arctic is going to melt.  I wish I could share your optomism, but the future is hard to predict, and I'm cynical by nature.