Arctic ice shrinks to ‘smallest in satellite era’ - NASA

Post date: Sep 24, 2012 5:58:0 AM

NASA has tossed its coin into the “shrinking Arctice sea ice” kitty with images showing that on August 26, “sea ice dipped to its smallest extent ever recorded in more than three decades of satellite measurements”.

Noting that the 2012 melt season could still have weeks to run, the NASA measurements compare the August 26 extent to the long-term average minimum from 1979 to 2010. This year’s so-far-minimum “broke the previous record set on Sept. 18, 2007”, NASA states.

The numbers: the latest measurement showed the sea ice extent at 4.1 million square kilometers, nearly 1.7* per cent below the 2007 minimum of 4.17 million square kilometers. More...