Arctic sea ice record low this winter

OSLO: Arctic sea ice this year is the smallest in winter since satellite records began in 1979, in a new sign of long-term climate change, US data showed on Thursday. The ice floating on the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole reached its maximum annual extent of just 14.54 million square km on February 25 — slightly bigger than Canada — and is now expected to shrink with a spring thaw. “This year’s maximum ice extent was the lowest in the satellite record, with below-average ice conditions everywhere except in the Labrador Sea and Davis Strait,” the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said in a statement.

A late season surge in ice was still possible, it said. The ice was 1.1 million sq kms smaller than the 1981-2010 average, and below the previous lowest maximum in 2011. With the return of the sun to the Arctic after months of winter darkness, the ice shrinks to a minimum in September.