Arctic sea ice reaches record low for winter

WASHINGTON — The growth of Arctic sea ice this winter peaked at the lowest maximum level on record, thanks to extraordinarily warm temperatures, federal scientists said Monday.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center says ice covered a maximum of 5.607 million square miles of the Arctic Ocean in 2016. That’s 5,000 square miles less than the old record set in 2015 — a difference slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.

It’s also some 431,000 miles less than the 30-year average. That difference is the size of Texas and California combined.

Records go back to 1979 when satellites started measuring sea ice, which forms when Arctic Ocean water freezes.

This year’s ice didn’t break the record by much, but it’s “an exclamation point” on a longer-term trend, said NASA scientist Walt Meier.

The subpar showing doesn’t necessarily mean that the minimum extent this summer will also break a record, scientists said. The summer minimum is more important for affecting Earth’s climate and weather.

Data center scientist Julienne Stroeve says winter temperatures over the North Pole were 16 degrees warmer than normal, while other parts of the Arctic ran 4 to 11 degrees warmer than normal.