Arctic sea ice still in retreat: data center

Arctic sea ice extent for Aug. 16 was 5.79 million square kilometres.. The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 median extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. (IMAGE/NSIDC)

The overall Arctic sea ice extent this year is covering less area than average — about 1.35 million square kilometres.

And the Arctic sea ice extent is now tracking below 2010, 2013, and 2014, the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Center said this week.

The rate of ice melt slowed compared to July, but remained faster than is typical for the month through the first half of August, the NSIDC said.

Most of the ice in Baffin and Hudson bays has finally melted out, its satellite imagery shows.

And the Northwest Passage remains clogged with “considerable ice” in the channels of the Canadian High Arctic islands.

However, some data sources reveal narrow openings in the ice where navigation may be possible, the NSIDC said.

On Aug. 16, sea ice extent stood at 5.79 million sq km, 1.35 million sq km below the 1981 to 2010 average, and 1.17 million sq km above the level for the same date in 2012, the year of the record low extent.

The Arctic sea ice will reach its minimum in September.