Publication Date March 28, 2016 | The Guardian

Arctic sea ice extent breaks record low for winter

Arctic
 Melting ice on the Chilkat river near Haines, Alaska, in January 2016. This winter scientists said the Arctic freeze stalled early on, across the polar seas. Photo: Michele Cornelius, Alamy
Melting ice on the Chilkat river near Haines, Alaska, in January 2016. This winter scientists said the Arctic freeze stalled early on, across the polar seas. Photo: Michele Cornelius, Alamy

Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre said on Monday that the sea ice cover attained an average maximum extent of 14.52m sq km (5.607m sq miles) on 24 March, the lowest winter maximum since records began in 1979.

The low beats a record set only last year of 14.54m sq km (5.612m sq miles), reached on 25 February 2015