For many years, scientists have expected that climate change will be more rapid and dramatic at the poles than at lower latitudes, an expectation that has been demonstrated both with climate models and recent observations of snow and ice, surface temperatures, vegetation, and permafrost.
In 1984, there were 1.86 million square kilometers of old ice spread across the Arctic at its yearly minimum extent. In September 2016, there were only 110,000 square kilometers of old ice left.
The extent of Arctic sea ice peaked at 15.24 million square kilometers on March 18, 2012. It was the ninth consecutive year of maximum extents below the long-term average.