arctic
Arctic sea ice hits record low, and keeps going Summer storm and thin ice probably contributed to massive melt By Alexandra Witze October 6th, 2012; Vol.182 #7 (p. 5) Text Size Enlarge Arctic sea ice (shown in white) covered 4.10 million square kilometers on August 26, surpassing the previous record low set on September 18, 2007. The orange outline shows the 1979-2000 average sea ice extent for that day. NSIDC With weeks still left in the summer melt season, the Arctic Ocean?s floating skin of ice has already shrunk to a record minimum. As of August 26, Arctic sea ice covered 4.10 million square kilometers ? 70,000 square kilometers below the previous satellite-era record from 2007, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.