Arctic Sea Ice Continues a Trend of Shrinking Maximum Extents

Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent on March 17, according to analysis by NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The 2018 extent reached 5.59 million square miles, only about 23,000 square miles larger than the lowest maximum on record, in 2017.

This continues a trend of shrinking sea ice, with the four lowest Arctic sea ice maximum extents on record in the last four years. Dr. Claire Parkinson explains how and why NASA studies Arctic sea ice.

Music: Children's Carousel by Maxi Schulze [GEMA], Moritz Limmer [GEMA] Complete transcript available.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Kathryn Mersmann