Note the blue line, which is a record of last winter. The winter peak in March was the lowest since satellite records began, scientists say, according to an article in
EcoWatch. More from
EcoWatch:
What’s behind this winter’s low ice extent?
The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the global average, largely in response to rising greenhouse gases.
In March 2016, nearly all of the Arctic Ocean experienced exceptionally warm conditions, says the NSIDC report, with air temperatures about 3,000 feet above the surface typically 2 to 4C higher than the long term average.
This is consistent with what scientists have been seeing for the last few months.
Monitoring sea ice thickness can tell us about the age of the ice that’s left in the Arctic, as well as how it’s changing over short timescales. The oldest ice—more than five years old—is now at record low levels, making up just 3 percent of the total ice cover, according to the NSIDC report.
Of the sea ice in the Arctic basin, 70 percent is first-year ice (which means it’s melting and refreezing each year) while only 30 percent is lasting through one summer without melting.
The map below shows the age of sea ice across the Arctic for a week at the start of March. Red is the very old (5+ years) ice in the western Beaufort Sea, while dark blue is first year ice.
