The Arctic sea ice maximum of the winter of 2010-2011 is the lowest ever recorded.

The NSIDC on Tuesday officially confirmed the new climate record was reached on March 7, after which date the summer melting season set in again – despite some temporary recovery (even net ice growth) during late March.

Because of this slight recovery the monthly average sea ice extent for March was with 14.56 million square kilometers second-lowest on record, after 2006.

© Rolf Schuttenhelm | www.bitsofscience.org