2013 Wintertime Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Fifth Lowest on Record

2013 Wintertime Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Fifth Lowest on Record
By Maria-Jose Vinas
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Last September, at the end of the northern hemisphere summer, the Arctic Ocean's icy cover shrank to its lowest extent on record, continuing a long-term trend and diminishing to about half the size of the average summertime extent from 1979 to 2000.

During the cold and dark of Arctic winter, sea ice refreezes and achieves its maximum extent, usually in late February or early March. According to a NASA analysis, this year the annual maximum extent was reached on Feb. 28 and it was the fifth lowest sea ice winter extent in the past 35 years.

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