Arctic sea ice summer minimum in 2021 is ‘12th lowest’ on record

Oct 6, 2021

the sun shines low in the sky just after midnight over a frozen coastline near the Norwegian Arctic town of Longyearbyen

'Arctic sea ice has reached its annual minimum for 2021.' Image: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Ayesha Tandon

Science Journalist, Carbon Brief

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a map showing the 2021 Arctic summer minimum extent, on 16 September 2021

The 2021 Arctic summer minimum extent, on 16 September 2021. The yellow line shows the 1981-2010 average extent for that month. Image: NSIDC

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this graph shows the Arctic sea ice extent for each decade of the satellite era

Arctic sea ice extent for each decade of the satellite era (dotted lines). Specific years are shown by the moving lines – 2007 (pink), 2012 (white), 2020 (blue) and 2021 so far (yellow). Image: Dr Zack Labe using data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

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this map shows an Antarctic sea ice extent for September 15, 2021 was 18.64 million square kilometers (7.20 million square miles)

Antarctic sea ice extent for September 15, 2021 was 18.64 million square kilometers (7.20 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Image: NSIDC

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