In Fact, It Has Lost an Area of Summer Sea Ice Larger Than 40 Maines
Another way to analyze Arctic ice is to think about the state of Maine. Yes, you read that right. As you can see in the graph above, the downward trend for the summer minimum extent is clear.
The 13.1% dip per decade relative to the 1981–2010 average tells some of the story. Each year that averages out to about 32,000 square miles (82,700 square kilometers) of ice lost. That’s roughly the size of Maine. So over the past four decades of satellite records, we’ve lost 40 Maines-worth of ice.
You can also divide the satellite sea ice record into thirds, which still shows that the average minimum extent for each third has been successively declining, with an especially dramatic dip from 2007-2020. From 1979-1992, the average minimum extent was 2.64 million square miles (6.85 million square kilometers); for 1993-2006, it was 2.37 million square miles (6.13 million square kilometers); and for 2007-2020, it was 1.71 million square miles (4.44 million square kilometers).
Though the rate of loss has slowed over the past 14 years, the Report Card notes this “reflects a changed Arctic with consistently low extent throughout the period;” the 14 lowest extents in the satellite era have all occurred in the last 14 years.
