The 2016 Arctic sea ice melt season is over, leaving an emaciated covering of relatively thin ice across the top of the world. The National S**w and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) an**unced the minimum ice extent on Thursday, finding that 2016 was virtually tied with 2007 for the second-lowest ice extent on record.*
All told, the amount of missing Arctic sea ice was nearly 1 million square miles below the 1979 to 2000 average. In other words, the Arctic was missing e**ugh ice to cover the states of Alaska and Texas combined.*