Headline
Arctic sea ice sets January record low
Canada
Sea ice is frozen ocean water that melts each summer and refreezes each winter. It typically reaches its smallest "extent" in September and largest in March of each year, and is tracked by the data center, located in Boulder, Colo.
Measurements of sea ice in the Arctic began in 1979.
The monthly average January 2016 sea ice extent was 42,500 square miles less than the previous record low in 2011.
The lack of ice affects wildlife such as polar bears and walruses and also could be changing weather patterns down here over the U.S.
Related Content
Science Source
| World Weather Attribution
Unusually high temperatures at the North Pole, winter 2016
Science Source
| Geophysical Research Letters
Accelerated increase in the Arctic tropospheric warming events surpassing stratospheric warming events during winter
S.‐Y. Simon Wang, Yen‐Heng Lin, Ming‐Ying Lee et al
Science Source
| Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
EEE 2016: CMIP5 Model-based Assessment of Anthropogenic Influence on Highly Anomalous Arctic Warmth During November–December 2016
Jonghun Kam, Thomas R. Knutson, Fanrong Zeng et al
Headline
Dec 12, 2017 | Mother Jones
The Arctic is warming faster than at any point in the past 1,500 years