Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — A glitch in satellite sensors caused scientists to underestimate the extent of Arctic sea ice by 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles), a California- size area, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center said.
The error, due to a problem called “sensor drift,” began in early January and caused a slowly growing underestimation of sea ice extent until mid-February. That’s when “puzzled readers” alerted the NSIDC about data showing ice-covered areas as stretches of open ocean, the Boulder, Colorado-based group said on its Web site.
**Yes, the size of CALIFORNIA
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Only the size of California,eh! Well, everyone makes minor mistakes once in a while.
I guess this means the polar bears are safe until the next heat wave hits in 2015.
Whew!