海角大神

It was a warm spring for Arctic sea ice, with sea ice extents reaching record low levels in January, February, and April. Now, scientists say that May beat previous ice cover low records by a huge amount.

Last month, the Arctic averaged twelve million square kilometers of sea ice. The previous record low, set in 2004, was more than half a million square kilometers greater than this year鈥檚 record.聽

In other words, this May鈥檚 Arctic ice cover was smaller than the previously set record by an area larger than the state of California.聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e never seen anything like this before,鈥� Mark Serreze, the Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), told the Washington Post. 鈥淚t鈥檚 way below the previous record, very far below it, and we鈥檙e something like almost a month ahead of where we were in 2012.鈥�

And although this May鈥檚 low ice extents beat the previous record by a shocking amount, the unfortunate new record is even more alarming compared to recent ice averages.

This May, sea ice extents were more than a million square kilometers (or the size of three Californias) less than the average for the month between 1981 and 2010. Daily sea ice levels were also about 600,000 square kilometers less than previous years.

And the damage isn鈥檛 limited to May. Unfortunately, with ice extents at record lows already, scientists are predicting even lower ice levels for the rest of the year.聽

The Arctic was around four to five degrees Fahrenheit聽warmer this spring than it has been in the past, accelerating sea ice melt and preventing sea ice from forming at its usual rates. In March, (NSIDC) research affiliate Walt Meier told 海角大神 that high winds in the Arctic also impeded this year鈥檚 growth.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in a bad way right now,鈥� said Dr. Serreze.

May鈥檚 ice melt is already two to four weeks ahead of what it was in 2012, which set September records for the most ice melt in history. With this year鈥檚 heat, scientists are concerned about September.

鈥淎ll we can say is that we are on a very bad footing,鈥� Serreze told The Washington Post. 鈥淗owever, this is also part and parcel of a longer trend 鈥� we鈥檝e always known that the Arctic would be the place most sensitive to climate change, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e seeing.鈥�

鈥淭he Arctic is in crisis,鈥� said NSIDC lead scientist Ted Scampos in March. 鈥淵ear by year, it鈥檚 slipping into a new state, and it鈥檚 hard to see how that won鈥檛 have an effect on weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere.鈥�

[Editor's note: An earlier version stated that melting sea ice causes sea levels to rise, which is incorrect as sea ice is already floating in the ocean. Melting land ice, however, can cause sea levels to rise.]