The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has announced Arctic sea ice has reached its lowest maximum extent on record.
The beginning of the Arctic ice melt season is here, and researchers believe the maximum extent seen during the winter months was less than impressive. The NSIDC will post a more detailed analysis of the sea ice conditions in early April.
The ice reached a maximum extent of 5.61 million square miles, and below-average ice condition were seen everywhere except in the Labrador Sea and Davis Strait. The extent seen is about 425,000 square miles below the 1981 to 2010 average of 6.04 million square miles, and 50,200 square miles below the previous lowest ice extent on record that occurred in 2011. This year's maximum also occurred 15 days earlier than the 1981 to 2010 average date of March 12.
"While the downturn in extent was quite pronounced on February 25, the trend subsequently flattened. This is in part due to recent ice growth in the Bering Sea, partly balancing continued ice retreat in the Barents and Kara seas. Over the next two to three weeks, periods of increase are still possible. However, it now appears unlikely that there could be sufficient growth to surpass the extent reached on February 25," the NSIDC stated.
Due to variability in ice extent in this transitional time of year, the NSIDC noted it will take more time to pinpoint the exact date of the ice extent maximum. It is possible that there will be some ice growth over the next two or three weeks, but the researchers believe it is unlikely. The NSIDC calculates daily ice extent as an average of the five previous days and noticeable downward trends. The downturn was observed to be "pronounced" on Feb. 25, but the trend proved to flatline later on. The researchers have attributed this to ice growth in the Bering Sea.
