“Analysis of NSIDC August 4 News“. Steven Goddard still thinks that he can use Photoshop to disprove Global Warming! Friendly advice for Anthony Watts: I know Steven helps fill your blog with denialist arguments of varying quality, but his premises are invariably based on either stubborn ignorance or deliberate analytical flaws. Although perhaps you don’t care?
So what’s Steven’s “analysis” this time? He claims that the NSIDC’s (National Snow and Ice Data Center) Sea Ice News has a deceptive chart of Arctic Sea Ice Extent because his pixel counting from an NSIDC map shows 10% more ice now that in 2007. That’s not what the chart shows! Although it goes right over Steven’s head, Dr. Walt Meier of the NSIDC charitably explains;
Our sea ice maps are not an equal area projection. Thus one cannot compare extents by counting grid cells – this is probably the reason for the 7.5% vs. 3% discrepancy. Steve has been alerted to this issue in the past, but seems to have forgotten it.
Photoshop also proves that Arctic multi-year ice is doing just fine, sort of, even though the NSIDC says that it is melting in the southern Beaufort Sea. So there.
Finally, Steven lets us know that Sea Ice Extent is increasing in the Antarctic, naturally disproving Global Warming. Too bad Antarctic Sea Ice Extent is driven by ocean current patterns and glacial outflow and not temperature.
Goddard notes grandly that he has “alerted Dr. Meier to most of these issues by E-mail.” Another trophy for the lunch-room bulletin board I suppose.
Wott's Up With That? 
There is something very silly about watching votes being counted, or watching sea ice melting. For someone who refuses to admit to the character weakness of impatience, there’s the Arctic vigil justification of learning the details.
These are increasingly lacking from Steve’s uni-directional posts. And from his justifications du jour, the “competing-data” is particularly uninteresting (albeit, ultimately doubt-ridden).
There’s more interesting reading elsewhere on the web. For thickness buffs, read why Ron Lindsay’s End of July prediction for September is 3.7 million square kilometers! Or for the imaginative, follow Neven’s conjecture about ways that very large pieces of the Arctic ice pack could break off.
http://psc.apl.washington.edu/lindsay/September_ice_extent.html
http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2010/08/breaking-away-from-the-pack.html#more
WUWT BLINKING SKEPTICISM………. I’ve become skeptical of blink comparators. All too often I fail to see what I’m supposed to see. I don’t know whether to blame my eyesight, or my suspicious nature.
ARCTIC + ANTARCTIC SEA ICE………. Someday websites will have laugh tracks to express suitable derision in the appropriate place. Until then, I’d like to propose a suitable smiley face for Wottsupwiththat to display when WUWT makes their apples and oranges comparison. Put the yellow facial features inside the outline of Antarctica, and surround it all in a circular white ring.