Right now, the Arctic is reaching its maximum sea ice coverage, winter cold has built up over months of darkness, and the ice has spread as far south as possible year-round. And the maximum sea ice at the North Pole this year is alarmingly low.
Approximately half a million miles of ice are missing from this year’s “maximum” total compared to the average, an amount twice as large as Texas.
It’s the latest deeply worrying signal from the top of the planet, a region that has become a clear victim of the climate crisis due to humans’ burning of fossil fuels and, as melting ice opens up commercial and military opportunities.
Winter is the time when Arctic ice accumulates, typically reaching its maximum extent in March. This year, when scientists at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) took measurements on March 15, they found that the ice had reached 5.52 million square miles, approximately 9% less than the average between 1981 and 2010.
It was slightly below last year’s record high of 5.53 million square miles, but close enough to technically be a tie, and is the lowest peak observed since satellite records began in 1979.
“One or two years with low ice levels doesn’t necessarily mean much on its own,” said NSIDC ice scientist Walt Meier, but when looked at in the context of a multi-decade downward trajectory, “it reinforces the drastic change in Arctic sea ice across all seasons.”
Scientists are worried about what this will mean for spring and summer snowmelt. The last 19 years
By 2023, the Arctic will be ice-free in summer sometime by 2050, even if humans stop emitting climate pollutants.
The disappearance of sea ice has global impacts. Ice acts like a giant mirror, reflecting sunlight away from Earth and back into space. As it shrinks, more solar energy is absorbed by the dark ocean, which accelerates global warming.
This new record isn’t a surprise, as Arctic sea ice had been at levels near historic lows all winter, said Jennifer Francis, senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. But it’s another warning sign.
“Just as a person’s unregulated blood pressure signals a health problem, the continued loss of sea ice is yet another symptom that indicates Earth’s climate is in serious trouble,” she said.
The cause is no mystery, she added: “The ongoing buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is warming the oceans, warming the air, melting ice and worsening extreme weather events around the world.”
