Thread by @BBCWorld

This summer, Arctic sea-ice shrunk to its second lowest level since satellite observation began 42 years ago

What does this mean for the planet?

[Thread]

bbc.in/3hVWh2m

It's normal for Arctic sea-ice to expand through the winter and then melt back again in the summer

But data suggests the floating ice sheets in September are now shrinking by around 13% per decade as the polar north warms

bbc.in/3hVWh2m

Last week they stood at just under 3.74 million sq km

It’s predicted that later this century, summer sea-ice will regularly be below 1m sq km

“It's never going to go back to the way it was in the 1980s or 1990s,” researcher Prof Julienne Stroeve says

bbc.in/3hVWh2m

This is bad news for the planet

Extensive sea-ice helps cool the Arctic and the planet as a whole

It has also been linked to the spread of a deadly virus in marine mammals

bbc.in/35TmgVN

2020 has seen some very warm conditions, especially on the Siberian side of the ocean, that drove early season melting

2012, the worst year since satellite records began, saw late storms diffuse the ice – which this year hasn’t happened

bbc.in/3hVWh2m

Prof Stroeve’s work also suggests a European Space Agency satellite has a tendency to gauge the sea-ice as being thicker than it really is

Read more about that, and the findings, here ⬇️

bbc.in/3hVWh2m