On March 21, 2021, Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent,
covering 5.70 million square miles (14.77 million square kilometers).
This year’s maximum is the seventh-lowest maximum on record.
Arctic sea ice regrowth had a delayed start this year following warmer temperatures later in the season.
Every year, after the warmer summer months melt ice in the Arctic,
sea ice regrows to its annual maximum extent during colder winter temperatures.
Conversely, as warmer summer temperatures melt sea ice,
it reaches its lowest extent, or its minimum.
This year’s Arctic sea ice maximum comes after 2020’s second-lowest sea ice minimum,
recorded during last summer’s soaring temperatures and record-breaking wildfires in the Siberian Arctic.
NASA has been recording both the maximum and minimum Arctic sea ice extent every year since 1979.
The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet.
NASA