NEW YORK: Arctic sea ice appears to have shrunk to its lowest level on record for this time of year, scientists said this week. The amount of ice covering the sea around the Arctic regularly grows through the dark freezing winter before melting as the summer months near.
This winter, the maximum level of ice seems to have been reached earlier than usual, on February 25, according to the US-based National Snow and Ice Data Center. The amount of ice coverage was also the lowest in a satellite record dating back to 1979.
A late season surge in winter sea ice growth is still possible, the NSIDC said, adding it would publish a more detailed set of figures in early April. “However, it now appears unlikely that there could be sufficient growth to surpass the extent reached on February 25,” the centre said in a statement. The new data are a fresh sign of the impact of climate change, said some researchers.
“This is further evidence that global warming and its impacts have not stopped despite the inaccurate and misleading claims of climate change ‘sceptics’,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at London’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
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