Arctic Sea Ice Loss For June A New Record For The Month - NSIDC
The Arctic melt season is well underway, and sea ice extent — a key indicator of global warming — declined rapidly during June, setting a record for the largest June sea ice loss in the satellite era. Sea ice extent is currently running just below the level seen at the same time in 2007, the year that set the record for the lowest sea ice minimum in the satellite era.
While the current rate of sea ice decline does not necessarily indicate that another record low will be set this year — weather conditions and other factors could slow the melt before the September sea ice minimum — so far the 2012 melt season has continued the trend of accelerated sea ice loss in the Far North.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colo., large amounts of sea ice loss were observed during June in the Beaufort, Bering, and Kara Seas as well as Baffin and Hudson Bay. The only area with above average sea ice at the end of June was the eastern Greenland coast, the NSIDC stated.
During June, the Arctic lost a record total of about 1.1 million square miles of ice — an area about as large as the combined land area of Alaska, California, Florida, and Texas. At the end of the month, Arctic sea ice extent was 456,000 square miles below the 1979-to-2000 average. The past three years have seen the lowest June ice extents on record, and this year, sea ice loss is running about three weeks ahead of schedule. The ice extent recorded for June 30 would normally be expected on July 21, based on the 1979-2000 average, the NSIDC said.
EDIT
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/record-amount-of-arctic-sea-ice-melted-in-june/
