--- 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: 2026-02-22T16:16:28.294Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits a Record Low Amid Higher Temperatures ## 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/"},"headline":"Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits a Record Low Amid Higher Temperatures","datePublished":"2016-03-28T21:07:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:16:28.294Z","description":"A record warm winter had a lot to do with it","url":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7f7f954bb4c0b42/69888cc65f570f88e3b2039a/arctic-sea-ice-melt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7f7f954bb4c0b42/69888cc65f570f88e3b2039a/arctic-sea-ice-melt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Arctic sea ice melt","caption":"Arctic sea ice melt","creditText":"Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/","name":"Arctic Winter Sea Ice Hits a Record Low Amid Higher Temperatures"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"NASA: A Year in the Life of Earths CO2","description":"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.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TPdLINk3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-09T15:29:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TPdLINk3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/","duration":"PT3M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4274140/arctic-sea-ice-winter-record/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```