\n Right now, the Arctic is maxing out on sea ice \u2013 the cold of winter has built up over months of darkness, and ice has spread as far south as it will all year. It\u2019s the North Pole\u2019s sea ice maximum, except this year, it\u2019s alarmingly low.\n <\/p>\n
\n There is roughly half a million square miles of ice missing in this year\u2019s \u201cmax,\u201d compared to average \u2014 an amount twice the size of Texas.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s the latest profoundly worrying signal from the top of the planet, a region which has become a clear victim of the climate crisis as humans burn fossil fuels, and increasingly a geopolitical hotspot<\/a> as melting ice opens up commercial and military opportunities.\n <\/p>\n \n Winter is when Arctic ice builds up, typically reaching its maximum extent in March. This year, when scientists from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center measured it on March 15, they found the ice had reached 5.52 million square miles \u2014 roughly 9% lower than the average between 1981 and 2010.\n <\/p>\n \n It came in just below last year\u2019s record maximum of 5.53 million square miles, but close enough to it that it\u2019s technically a tie, and is the lowest peak observed since satellite records began in 1979.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cA low year or two don\u2019t necessarily mean much by themselves,\u201d said Walt Meier, a NSIDC ice scientist, but when looked at in the context of a multi-decade downward trajectory, \u201cit reinforces the dramatic change to Arctic sea ice throughout all seasons.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Scientists are concerned about what it will mean for the spring and summer melt season. The last 19 years have seen the lowest sea ice levels on record.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n