Arctic sea ice extent remains low; 2009 sees third-lowest mark

At the end of the Arctic summer, more ice cover remained this year than during the previous record-setting low years of 2007 and 2008. However, sea ice has not recovered to previous levels. September sea ice extent was the third lowest since the start of satellite records in 1979, and the past five years have seen the five lowest ice extents in the satellite record.

NSIDC Director and Senior Scientist Mark Serreze said, Its nice to see a little recovery over the past couple years, but theres no reason to think that were headed back to conditions seen back in the 1970s. We still expect to see ice-free summers sometime in the next few decades.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Arctic
• sea ice
• climate change
• cryosphere

[thefudge123321]

I think my comment says it all............these people making these outrageous claims using words like 'Death Spiral' and 'Ice free summers by 2013', should be held accountable. Just like Hansen suggests they should be put on trial for their crimes.

[robertk1968]

This data might mean something if we had satellite pictures for the past 1000 years, all I can conclude from the Uni of illinois data is to keep of collecting their data for future generations.