Losing grip much? Arctic sea just hit 4th lowest level on record

The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced on Wednesday that the Arctic sea ice had reached its annual minimal extent, and it was the fourth worst in recorded history.

“It’s showing us that the Arctic is truly evolving from a different state, and far from recovering, even relatively typical summers in the Arctic lead to relatively low sea ice extents”, he said.

Along with this Arctic minimum, the winter sea-ice maximum around the Antarctic continent is approaching. “At this year’s United Nations climate negotiations in Paris we need leaders to come together and agree to take bold action, now”. Moreover, the nine lowest areas in the satellite era have all occurred in the last nine years.

It’s likely that the thicker ice will continue to decline over time. Its minimum summertime extent, which occurs at the end of the melt season, has been decreasing since the late 1970s in response to warming temperatures, according to NASA.

Arctic sea ice hit a record minimum in 2012, when the ice covered a mere 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square km).

The agency will issue a final report in October, which will give a full accounting of the melt season, and the final, official ranking of this year’s sea ice extent.

According to their measurements, this minimum extent comes in at just 4.413 million square kilometres, 1.87 million square kilometres lower than the 1981-2020 average of 6.283 million km (shown as the orange line in the image below). “In the past, Arctic sea ice was like a fortress”.

The Arctic ocean ice spread is solidified seawater that reflects sun based vitality back to space, helping keeping the Earth cool. There was no unusual weather fragmenting the ice pack this year. But as the ice thins, that could change, Goddard climate modeler Richard Cullather said in the statement.

This additional Arctic warmth gets spread southwards and can also affect atmospheric circulation, changing the strength and location of major winds such as the jet stream.

El Niño, an ocean-atmosphere pattern that warms the eastern Pacific near the equator, isn’t known to have an effect on Arctic summer ice.

Sea ice in Antarctica, which had been at record high levels in recent years, are about average, Stroeve said.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future.