Greenland Sea ice is at its lowest extent in recorded history right now.
The final frame in more detail next to the mapped ice extent and concentration via @NSIDC data.
Notice the median ice edge (1981-2010 average) for this time of year represented by the orange line.
Notice the high annual variability. I have plotted last year in yellow just to show how different extent can be year-on-year. Sea ice extent is driven by many factors.
Summer 2021 was exceptionally hot when compared to a summer average from 1951-1980.
But it felt cold in large parts of Europe? This map must be wrong?
It turns out, 'how we feel' can be explained - without data, we are just opinions.
A thread...
Let's start by comparing summer of 2021 to a more recent average of 1981-2010.
Already looking less fiery and red. This basically tells us that the summers between 1981 and 2010 were warmer than those between 1951-1980.
But what about Summer 2021 vs the 21st century average so far?
The reds in western Europe erode and essentially we learn that the summer in 2021 was nothing special compared to this average (but is still considerably warmer than 1951-1980 average for example).