Arctic sea ice makes new record low annual max

“Arctic sea ice makes new record low annual max,” National Snow and Ice Data Center

 – by New Deal democrat

On Sunday I occasionally post about topics of interest unrelated to economics. So today, let’s take note of a significant milestone in global warming.

Specifically, the arctic has just had its lowest peak ever for sea ice in modern history, at 14.33 million square kilometers. The next closest were 2017, at 14.41 million; 2018, at 14.47 million; 2016, at 14.51 million; and 2015, at 14.52 million. Here’s what the peaks look like graphically, including every year since the turn of the Millennium:

Interestingly, this year was the third latest peak in the past 25 years, bucking the mild trend of earlier and earlier peaks over time.

Here is what the past several months have looked like in comparison with the four previous record low years noted above, as well as the historical trend:

Although at its peak, this year was higher than previous years on the same date, the peak was nevertheless lower than the peaks of the earlier years, each of which occurred earlier.

Finally, as you can see from the first chart, there has been a sharp decline in the week since this year’s peak, and it is now at an all-time low for this date as well. Here is a close-up of this year vs. the two closest runners-up, 2006 and 2017:

I am frankly surprised this page has not been taken down, which is one reason I wanted to make a record of the data here. Angry Bear is fortunate to have it also.

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