The area of Arctic sea ice passed a numerical milestone this week: into the 21st Century. In the first week of August, with a month or more to go in the melt season, area has already dropped below not just the year-to-date values, but the annual low points of any satellite-era year before 2007 (Cryosphere Today data). The current area is slightly below even 2007 for this date, and heading for a minimum down with the “modern” group of post-2006 values. Figure 1 visualizes the comparison between area on August 2 and the lowest days of previous years — which ranged from August 31 to September 30. The median date for minimum area is September 8 or 9.
