New Data Show Rapid Arctic Ice Decline

Proportion of Thicker, More Persistent Winter Cover is the Lowest on Record

A recently released NASA report indicates that Arctic sea ice is both shrinking in size and becoming thinner. As Juleit Eilperin and Mary Beth Sheridan write for the Washington Post:

• Arctic sea ice cover continues to shrink and become thinner
• The maximum extent of 2008-09 winter sea ice cover was the fifth-lowest since researches began collecting such information 30 years ago.
• The past six years have had the six lowest maximum winter sea ice coverage.
• The percentage of older, thicker, and more persistent ice shrank to its lowest level ever, 9.8% of the winter ice cover.

New Data Show Rapid Arctic Ice Decline
Proportion of Thicker, More Persistent Winter Cover is the Lowest on Record
The Washington Post
April 7, 2009

The Arctic sea ice cover continues to shrink and become thinner, according to satellite measurements and other data released yesterday, providing further evidence that the region is warming more rapidly than scientists had expected.

The data on this winter's ice buildup came on the day that international ministers gathered in Washington to address issues facing Earth's polar regions, which have been disproportionately affected by global warming. At the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Arctic Council that the Obama administration will press for greater action on climate change and for passage of the Law of the Sea Treaty in order to help regulate expanded human activity in a warmer Arctic, including shipping, fishing and oil exploration.

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