ARCTIC MELTING: According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), ice lost goes on in both poles … Arctic sea ice extent for June 2018 was the 4th lowest extent for the month in the satellite record. What about the Antarctic? Sea ice expanded at a faster-than-average pace in June in the Southern Hemisphere, bringing Antarctic sea ice extent closer to typical ice extents for this time of year. This follows on the heels of a period of below-average ice extent since austral winter in 2016.
June 2018: arctic ice extent averaged 10.7 million square kilometers, 1.05 million square kilometers below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average.
Arctic sea ice extent for June 2018 averaged 10.7 million square kilometers (4.1 million square miles), the 4th lowest in the 1979 to 2018 satellite record. This was 1.05 million square kilometers (405,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average.
Extent at the end of June remained below average in the Chukchi Sea, but because of slow retreat through June in the region, extent in the Chukchi is now closer to average than was the case at the end of May. The Barents Sea and East Siberian Sea also have extents well below average at the end of June. Most of the ice in the Sea of Okhotsk has melted. Ice has been retreating in the west side of Hudson Bay where extent is below average.
The linear rate of sea ice decline for December is 48,000 square kilometers (18,500 square miles) per year or 4.1 percent per decade.
Considering data from 2015 to 2018, we can see Arctic Ice Lost ranges from 750,000 Square kilometers in winter 2015 and 1.4 million Square Kilometers in summer 2016. Ice extent in June 2018 was above 2017 but below 2016, but it is clear that ice extent in the Arctic region has been constantly below the long term average.
Ice Extent Lost Is Increasing Over Time
(Quantity of Ice Extent Lost in June 2018 compared to the 1981-2010 average)
Source: LTEconomy on NSIDC
2018 in review…
- January: Arctic sea ice extent for January 2018 averaged 13.06 million square kilometers (5.04 million square miles), 1.36 million square kilometers (525,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average, and 110,000 square kilometers (42,500 square miles) below the previous record low monthly average in 2017. The linear rate of decline for January is 47,700 square kilometers (18,400 square miles) per year, or 3.3 percent per decade.
- February: Arctic sea ice extent for February 2018 averaged 13.95 million square kilometers (5.39 million square miles). This is the lowest monthly average recorded for February, 1.35 million square kilometers (521,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and 160,000 square kilometers (62,000) below the previous record low monthly average in 2017. The linear rate of decline for February is 47,000 square kilometers per year (18,000 square miles per year), or 3.1 percent per decade.
- March: Arctic sea ice extent for March 2018 averaged 14.30 million square kilometers (5.52 million square miles), the second lowest in the 1979 to 2018 satellite record. This was 1.13 million square kilometers (436,300 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and 30,000 square kilometers (11,600 square miles) above the record low March extent in 2017. The linear rate of decline for March ice extent is 42,200 square kilometers (16,400 square miles) per year, or 2.7 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.
- April: Arctic sea ice extent for April 2018 averaged 13.71 million square kilometers (5.29 million square miles). This was 980,000 square kilometers (378,400 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and only 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) above the record low April extent set in 2016. The linear rate of decline for April sea ice extent is 37,500 square kilometers (14,500 square miles) per year, or 2.6 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.
- May: Arctic sea ice extent for May 2018 was 12.2 million square kilometers (4.7 million square miles). This was the second lowest May extent in the 39-year satellite record, and is 310,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles) above May 2016, the record low for the month. The linear rate of decline for May sea ice extent is 36,000 square kilometers (14,000 square miles) per year, or 2.6 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.
Source: NSIDC
LTEconomy, 11 October 2018
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