On thin ice

Arctic sea ice reached a record low wintertime maximum for the third consecutive year as temperatures around the North Pole soared to the warmest levels ever recorded during winter.

“I have been looking at Arctic weather patterns for 35 years and have never seen anything close to what we’ve experienced these past two winters,” U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center Director Mark Serreze said in a release. Not only is the extent of sea ice the smallest ever measured, the ice itself is also thinner as a result of the record summertime melting so far this century. The sea ice appeared to reach its greatest extent on March 7, covering a record low of 5.57 million square miles. That is down 37,000 square miles from last winter’s record low.