today was interesting....last year's July 28th lost about 63,000 square kilometers while 2010 only lost 47,000.....so for the first time 2010 has a little bit more of a "substantial" lead on 2009. of course, there is TONS more melt to come and i suspect this lead may change a few more times. all said, this is fairly meaningless at this point, but it continues to be interesting (and a tad bit surprising) to see that 2010 is tracking 2009 so closely. at this rate, we are only a few more days from 2010 catching 2008 (which fell further than 2009 but that fall came later in the melt season).