Reconstructed Arctic sea ice extent over the past 1,450 years, from Kinnard et al. (2011). | Although more Arctic sea ice survived this year [2014] than in the record-shattering melt of 2012, in 2014 the ice was nevertheless at its 6th-lowest level in thousands of years. About 70% of the sea ice in the Arctic has disappeared over the past three decades, mainly due to human-caused global warming. This rapid decline is well outside “the normal range” of Arctic sea ice extent and volume. |