The Centre for Ocean and Ice, located in Greenland, has put out the latest data for sea ice coverage in North America.
I will just list a few points about this......
-Any area of at least 15% sea ice is listed as ice coverage.
-The current sea ice coverage in the Arctic is the highest in at least 5 years.
-The shaded area shows the average ice extent for the last 34 years.
-The current ice coverage is in the average shaded area and just below the mean. (gray line)
-This estimate includes first year ice, multi-year ice and other ice types.
-This does not include actual thickness of the sea ice.
I post this graph to show that the Arctic sea ice is not melting at a record pace.
In fact, the surface ice area has increased greatly compared with 2008-2012.
The area of latitude 80 degrees to 90 degrees is having a record cold summer.
On the other side, it is a legitimate question about the thickness of the sea ice which has been eroding for a number of years. It is a matter of quality, not necessarily quantity. The thinner the ice is, the faster it can melt during the summer months.
Is this a temporary change because of the cold summer in the polar region or is it the start of a new trend. We will have to wait for the answer to that.