Around the globe: Arctic sea ice just missed record low

Napa Valley Register
Friday, April 06, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska � Arctic sea ice this winter just missed setting the record for fewest square miles covered since monitoring by satellite began, according to University of Colorado researchers.

The university�s National Snow and Ice Data Center has measured ocean waters covered by at least 15 percent ice since 1979. On March 31, the last day of the ice-growing season for 2007, ice covered 5.7 million square miles. That�s slightly higher that the record low 5.6 million square miles measured last year.

In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, a typical March measurement or Arctic sea ice would show it covering 6.4 million square miles, researcher Walt Meier said. That�s been reduced in recent years by at least 600,000 square miles, an area more than double the size of Texas.

�We�re still seeing near-record lows (in sea ice) and higher-than-normal temperatures, and we expect this downward trend to continue in future years,� he said./AP