Graph courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
Average Arctic sea ice extent hit a new record low for July according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).If the melt continues apace, the sea ice extent could hit its lowest point since record keeping by satellite began 32 years ago. However, ice loss slowed through the second half of July as weather grew colder in the Arctic, and by the end of the month was slightly above conditions in 2007, in which the lowest sea ice extent ever was measured.
During July average ice extent was 3.06 million square miles (7.92 million square kilometers), which is 842,000 square miles (2.18 million square kilometers) below the 1979 to 2000 average. The NSIDC also found that old sea ice continues to decline.
Sea ice hits its nadir in September before rebounding during the long Arctic winter. The loss of sea ice in the Arctic, which imperils a number of key species, is linked to climate change from global greenhouse gas emissions. Predictions range widely, but many experts expect the Arctic to be free of sea ice entirely within a few decades. By almost all standards, however, sea ice is disappearing faster than expected.
The loss of sea ice is also driving more exploitative industries, such as gas and oil, into once untouchable regions; however burning the fossil fuels lying beneath the Arctic will only worsen climate change, and thereby exacerbate ice loss in the Arctic.
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