Arctic sea ice extent live

Description

This interactive graphic about the Arctic sea ice extent, created by UNEP/GRID-Geneva, is updated automatically every day. Arctic sea ice extent has been declining since well before satellite measurements began in 1979. This decline has been most pronounced in September at the end of the summer melt season. Several of the most extreme years have been since 2002, with the smallest sea ice extent ever recorded (3.34 million km2) occurring in 16 September 2012. The winter sea ice extent in 2015 was the smallest ever recorded.