The Watchers - 6 April 2013 - by Chillymanjaro
NASA Goddard Visualisation Studio released video about state of Arctic sea ice during first three months of 2013. After a record melt season, an Arctic cyclone, and a fascinating fracturing event, Arctic sea ice has reached its maximum extent for the year. According to National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDIC), Arctic sea ice reached its maximum extent for the year on March 15 at 15.13 million square kilometers (5.84 million square miles). This year’s maximum ice extent was the sixth lowest in the satellite record (the lowest maximum extent occurred in 2011). The ten lowest maximums in the satellite record have occurred in the last ten years (2004 to 2013).
In April 2, 2013 report, NSDIC pointed that Arctic sea ice has passed its annual maximum extent and is beginning its seasonal decline through the spring and summer. Ice fracturing continued north of Alaska, and the Arctic Oscillation was in a strongly negative phase during the second half of the month, with unusually high sea level pressure over almost all of the Arctic Ocean. Levels of multiyear ice remain extremely low. The ice is thinner, and satellite data suggests that first-year ice may now cover the North Pole area for the first time since winter 2008.
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