--- title: Climate Change: Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits New Record Low description: A record warm winter drove sea ice in the Arctic to a new winter low canonical: https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-28T21:07:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:01.061Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change: Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits New Record Low og:description: A record warm winter drove sea ice in the Arctic to a new winter low og:url: https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7f7f954bb4c0b42/69888cc65f570f88e3b2039a/arctic-sea-ice-melt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: Arctic sea ice melt og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change: Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits New Record Low twitter:description: A record warm winter drove sea ice in the Arctic to a new winter low twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7f7f954bb4c0b42/69888cc65f570f88e3b2039a/arctic-sea-ice-melt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits a Record Low Amid Higher Temperatures > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=bc776699-d6b6-4318-8b24-c59117ebb663&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: NASA: A Year in the Life of Earths CO2 [Watch (HLS stream): NASA: A Year in the Life of Earths CO2](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TPdLINk3.m3u8) (3:10)  _Published 2016-03-09. An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 28, 2016 9:07 PM UTC  SPITSBERGEN, NORWAY - 1981/01/01: Spitsbergen, Icefloes Off The Coastline. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images) SPITSBERGEN, NORWAY - 1981/01/01: Spitsbergen, Icefloes Off The Coastline. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images) Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket via Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 28, 2016 9:07 PM UTC A record warm winter drove sea ice in the Arctic to a record winter low, according to a new government [report](http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2016/03/another-record-low-for-arctic-sea-ice-maximum-winter-extent/). The sea ice over the Arctic expands and shrinks with the seasons, but it typically covers the most territory in late March, at the end of the Arctic winter—a point called the maximum winter extent. Preliminary satellite data from NASA shows that this year’s maximum winter extent—reached on March 24—was the smallest ever, with Arctic sea ice covering 5.607 million square miles (14.52 million square km). That’s more than 430,000 square miles (1.1 million square kilometers)—nearly three times the size of Montana—below the average level between 1981 and 2010. This winter was the [hottest on record](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/) in many places across the globe, with average temperatures 2.03°F (1.13°C) above the 20th century average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [Temperatures in the Arctic](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/15/record-breaking-temperatures-have-robbed-the-arctic-of-its-winter) were as much as 16°C (29°F) above average, driving the ice melt. “It’s a lot easier to warm something that’s cold than something that’s already warm,” says Sean Sublette, a meteorologist at Climate Central. Climate scientists attribute the season’s [record temperatures](http://time.com/4261719/february-heat-records-climate-change/) to a combination of a particularly strong occurrence of the [El Niño](http://time.com/3996227/el-nino-forecast/) climate phenomenon—which raises ocean temperatures in the Pacific and changes air circulation to drive higher global temperatures—and the ongoing, mostly man-made climate change that has been heating the globe for decades. Sea ice melt also causes its own set of problems as it modifies short-term global climate patterns. In the long-run, it also contributes to the very climate change that causes it as the water exposed by ice melt tends to absorb more sunlight than ice. ## Transcript [00:01] Hi, this is Bill Puttman. I'm a climate scientist at NASA's [00:05] Goddard Space Flight Center. What you're looking at is a [00:08] super computer model of carbon dioxide levels in the [00:11] earth's atmosphere. The visualization compresses one [00:15] year of data into a few minutes. [ MUSIC ] [00:20] Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas [00:23] affected by human activity. About half of the carbon dioxide [00:27] emitted from fossil fuel combustion remains in the [00:29] atmosphere while the other half is absorbed by natural land [00:33] and ocean reservoirs. In the Northern Hemisphere, [00:38] We see the highest concentrations are focused around [00:41] major emissions sources over North America, Europe, and [00:44] Asia. [ MUSIC ] [00:47] Notice how the as doesn't stay in one place. The [00:49] dispersion of carbon dioxide is controlled by the large scale [00:52] weather patterns within the global circulation. [ MUSIC ] [01:02] During spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, [01:05] plants absorb a substantial amount of carbon dioxide [01:08] through photosynthesis, thus removing some of the gas [01:11] from the atmosphere. We see this change in the model and [01:14] the red and purple colors start to fade. [ MUSIC ] [01:32] Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, we see the [01:34] release of another pollutant, carbon monoxide. This is a [01:38] gas that's both harmful to the environment, and to humans. [01:42] During the summer months, plumes of carbon monoxide [01:45] stream from fires in Africa, South America, and Australia, [01:48] contributing to high concentrations in the atmosphere. [01:51] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [01:53] Notice how these emissions are also transported by winds [01:56] To other parts of the world. [ MUSIC ] [02:07] As summer transitions to fall and plant photosynthesis [02:10] decreases, carbon dioxide begins to accumulate in the [02:14] atmosphere. Although this change is expected [02:18] We're saying higher concentrations of carbon dioxide [02:21] accumulate in the atmosphere each year. This is [02:24] contributing to the long term trend of rising global [02:27] temperatures. [ MUSIC ] [02:32] The Orbiting Carbon Observatory- 2 or OCO- 2 will [02:36] be the first NASA satellite mission. To provide a global view [02:40] of carbon dioxide. OCO2 observations [02:44] in atmospheric models, like GEOS5, will work closely [02:47] together to better understand both human emissions and [02:51] natural fluxes of carbon dioxide NASA. [02:55] This will help guide climate models to our more reliable [02:58] predictions of future conditions across the globe. 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