Record lows in ice recorded at both ends of the planet

Arctic and Antarctic sea ice peaked at record lows for a third year running. It’s the smallest since record keeping began in 1979, scientists at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced.

Over the course of the seasons, ice at the poles expands and contracts, reaching a peak during the winter and a low during the summer. These peaks and troughs occur at mirror opposite points in the year, because of the seasons being reversed on either side of the equator.

The winter ice cover in the Arctic Ocean peaked on March 7, reaching a total area of 14.42 million square kilometers, observed from satellites. This total comes in around 100,000 square kilometers smaller than last year, and 1.22 million square kilometers under the average of 1981 to 2010.

In Antarctica, this year’s record low annual sea ice minimum of 815,000 square miles (2.11 million square kilometers) was 71,000 square miles (184,000 square kilometers) below the previous record, which occurred in 1997.

Unusually high autumn and winter temperatures, including several winter heat waves, are largely responsible for the meager Arctic sea ice this year, the scientists propose. Satellite observations also indicate that the ice is thinner. Together, the meager maximum extent and thin ice could lead to a low minimum sea ice extent, expected during September.

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