Calculating insolation as a function of date and latitude.

In preparation for some work I will be doing I've been working on calculation of insolation as a function of time and latitude. In this post I will explain the method and compare results to a readily obtainable plot of insolation at various latitudes.

Note, all of the following calculations and the comparison with another source are for top of atmosphere and do not take into account absorption/scattering by the atmosphere, or reflection from clouds.

The Slow Transition: Arctic Ocean Energy Gain.

The decline in sea ice volume can reasonably be viewed as a process of net energy gain in the Arctic Ocean's ice/ocean system. How can it be possible for the rate of volume loss to reduce, against the trend of past energy gain?

There are Monsters in the Ocean.

Today a large storm has been battering the north of the UK, I've been stuck at work, but I just couldn't stop myself checking up on one buoy in particular.

PIOMAS November 2014

PIOMAS data is out, so here's the usual analysis, with a bit of NSIDC Extent tagged on at the end...

Global and UK Temperatures 2014: New Records?

The BBC are reporting that this year looks set to be the warmest year across the globe and here in the UK. Although I mainly concentrate on the Arctic and sea ice, I couldn't do that without being all too aware of anthropogenic global warming, so here goes...