NASA On Air: 2015 Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Annual Extent Is Lowest On Record (3/18/2015)

  • Released Thursday, March 19, 2015
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LEAD: Scientists say the 2015 Arctic sea ice maximum annual extent is lowest on record.

1. Observations from the NASA–supported National Snow and Ice Data Center indicate the winter sea ice has peaked at 5.6 million square miles, less than twice the size of the U.S.

2. The main player inhibiting growth are the warm winds from the south that compact the ice northward and also bring warm air that melts the ice.

3. The end of the winter ice growth season came two weeks earlier compared to the 1981 to 2010 average date.

TAG: The past decades have seen a downward trend in Arctic sea ice during the winter and summer, although, the trend is decreasing faster for the summer melt.

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, March 19, 2015.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:49 PM EDT.