February’s Arctic ice cover in 2012 shows retreat: data center

Here, you can see the changes in Arctic sea ice extent. The coverage for February 2012 was 14.56 million square kilometres. The magenta line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NSIDC)

Even in February, generally the coldest month of the year, the Arctic ice extent fell short of its former robust spread.

Arctic ice coverage remains lower than it used to be — in fact, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center says 2012 marks the fifth-lowest February ice extent between 1979 and 2012 satellite data record.

But the situation wasn’t the same everywhere.

Arctic ice extent this month was low on the Atlantic side of the Arctic, but unusually high on the Pacific side of the Arctic, the NSIDC said this week.

On the Atlantic side, especially in the Barents Sea off Norway, air temperatures were higher than average and ice extent was unusually low.

In contrast, on the Pacific side, February ice extent in the Bering Sea around Alaska was the second highest since 1979, and it was paired with air temperatures that were three to five degrees C below average, the NSIDC said.

Overall, the Arctic gained 956,000 square kilometres of ice during the month.

But, despite those gains, NSIDC scientists say that, including the year 2012, February ice extent is dropping by about three per cent every 10 years.

Through 2003, average February ice extent had never been lower than 15 million sq. km.

But since 2003, February ice extent has not exceeded that mark eight out of the nine years, the NSIDC said.