Arctic sea ice shrivels to record low for winter

March 22, 2017 at 2:15 p.m. | Updated March 22, 2017 at 2:35 p.m.

by Associated Press

In this image provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA, shows how low sea ice levels were in the Arctic this winter, alarming climate scientists. During the winter, Arctic sea ice grew to 5.57 million square miles (14.42 million square kilometers) at its peak, but that’s the smallest amount of winter sea ice in 38 years of record keeping, beating the record set in 2015 and tied last year. Sea ice in March of this year was smaller than last year by an area about the size of the state of Maine. (National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA via AP)
In this image provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA, shows how low sea ice levels were in the Arctic this winter, alarming climate scientists. During the winter, Arctic sea ice grew to 5.57 million square miles (14.42 million square kilometers) at its peak, but that’s the smallest amount of winter sea ice in 38 years of record keeping, beating the record set in 2015 and tied last year. Sea ice in March of this year was smaller than last year by an area about the size of the state of Maine. (National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The frigid top of the Earth just set yet another record for low levels of sea ice in what scientists say is a signal of an overheating world.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado says the Arctic this month set a record low for winter peak sea ice area: 5.57 million square miles (14.42 million square kilometers).That's about 35,000 square miles (97,000 square kilometers) below 2015's record.

Center Director Mark Serreze says the less ice that grows in the winter, the deeper the melt problem is in the Arctic in the crucial summer. More areas will likely be ice-free.

Serreze says what's happening is important because Earth is losing a key part of its climate system.

Satellite records go back 38 years.

Upcoming Events