Please keep in mind that this is a preliminary announcement. Altering winds or late-season melt could still decrease the Arctic ice level, as taken place in 2005 and 2010. NSIDC researchers will launch a full analysis of the Arctic melt season, and go over the Antarctic winter sea ice development, in early October.
Figure 1. Arctic sea ice level for September 16, 2021, was 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average level for that day. Credit: National Snow and Ice Data
Introduction of conditions
On September 16, sea ice reached its yearly minimum degree of 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles) (Figure 1). In response to the setting sun and falling temperatures, ice level has actually begun rising and will continue to rise through fall and winter season. A shift in wind patterns or a period of late season melt might still push the ice level lower.
The minimum level was reached 2 days later on than the 1981 to 2010 median minimum date of September 14. The interquartile variety of minimum dates is September 11 to September 19.
Figure 2. The chart above programs Arctic sea ice extent on September 16, 2021, along with several other current years and the record minimum embeded in 2012. 2021 is displayed in blue, 2020 in green, 2019 in orange, 2018 in brown, 2017 in magenta, and 2012 in rushed brown. The 1981 to 2010 typical remains in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line reveal the interquartile and interdecile varieties of the data. Credit: National Snow and Ice Data
Conditions in context
This years minimum set on September 16 was 1.33 million square kilometers (514,000 square miles) above the record minimum degree in the satellite era, which occurred on September 17, 2012 (Figure 2). It is also 1.50 million square kilometers (579,000 square miles) listed below the 1981 to 2010 typical minimum degree, which is comparable to two times the size of Texas.
In the 43-year-satellite record, 15 of the most affordable minimums have all took place in the last 15 years.
Multiyear ice extent is among the most affordable on record. First-year-ice protection increased significantly because in 2015, jumping from 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) to 2.71 million square kilometers (1.05 million square miles). The boost in total degree from in 2015s minimum to this years is for this reason comprised of first-year ice.
The general, down pattern in the minimum degree from 1979 to 2021 is 13.0 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. The loss of sea ice is about 80,600 square kilometers (31,100 square miles) each year, equivalent to losing the size of the state of South Carolina or the nation of Austria annually.
Fifteen lowest minimum Arctic sea ice degrees (satellite record, 1979 to present).
Table 1. Fifteen most affordable minimum Arctic sea ice extents (satellite record, 1979 to present).
Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent on September 16, 2021, at 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
On September 16, Arctic sea ice most likely reached its yearly minimum degree of 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). The 2021 minimum is the twelfth least expensive in the nearly 43-year satellite record. The last 15 years are the most affordable 15 sea ice extents in the satellite record. The quantity of multi-year ice (ice that has actually made it through a minimum of one summer melt season), is one of the most affordable levels in the glacial epoch record, which started in 1984.
In the Antarctic, sea ice level is now falling rapidly, however it is still too early to presume that the optimum has actually been reached. The optimum for Antarctic sea ice normally takes place in late September or early October. However, Antarctic sea ice extent is extremely variable near the maximum since of storms acting to broaden or compact the extended ice edge.
IN MILLIONS OF SQUARE KILOMETERS.
IN MILLIONS OF SQUARE MILES.
RANK.
YEAR.
MINIMUM ICE EXTENT.
DATE.
1.
2012.
3.39.
1.31.
Sept. 17.
2.
2020.
3.82.
1.47.
Sept. 16.
3.
200720162019.
4.164.174.19.
1.611.611.62.
Sept. 18Sept. 10Sept. 18.
6.
2011.
4.34.
1.68.
Sept. 11.
7.
2015.
4.43.
1.71.
Sept. 9.
8.
20082010.
4.594.62.
1.771.78.
Sept. 19Sept. 21.
10.
20182017.
4.664.67.
1.801.80.
Sept. 23Sept. 13.
12.
2021.
4.72.
1.82.
Sept. 16.
13.
20142013.
5.035.05.
1.941.95.
Sept. 17Sept. 15.
15.
2009.
5.12.
1.98.
Sept. 13.
Values within 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) are thought about tied. The 2020 value has altered from 3.74 to 3.82 million square kilometers (1.47 million square miles) when last analysis data updated near-real-time information. The 2020 date of minimum also altered from September 15 to September 16.
See also:.
On September 16, Arctic sea ice most likely reached its yearly minimum level of 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). Arctic sea ice degree for September 16, 2021, was 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). On September 16, sea ice reached its annual minimum degree of 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles) (Figure 1). First-year-ice coverage increased considerably since last year, leaping from 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) to 2.71 million square kilometers (1.05 million square miles). The 2020 worth has changed from 3.74 to 3.82 million square kilometers (1.47 million square miles) when final analysis information upgraded near-real-time information.