Arctic ends winter with lowest sea ice cover on record – scientists

The new record shows how Arctic sea ice has ‘fundamentally changed’ from earlier decades, scientists said.

The Arctic has ended the winter with the lowest sea ice coverage on record, US scientists have said.

Arctic sea ice melts and regrows over the year, freezing throughout the winter months to reach a maximum extent in late February or March, then melting through the summer to hit a low point in early or mid-September.

Preliminary results suggest this year’s maximum extent of sea ice cover is the lowest in the 47-year satellite record, the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) at the University of Boulder, Colorado, in the US said.

Artic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.33 million square kilometres (5.53 million square miles) on March 22, the scientists said.

That is below the previous record low of 14.41 million square kilometres (5.56 million square miles) set on March 7 2017.

Cover photo:  The Arctic sea ice has reached its lowest maximum extent on record (Alamy/PA)