Sea ice in the Arctic grew to its annual maximum extent last week, and joined 2015, 2016 and 2017 as the four lowest maximum extents on record. On March 17, the Arctic sea ice peaked at 5.59 million square miles. The last four years reached nearly equally low maximum extents and continued a decades-long trend of diminishing sea ice in the Arctic. Arctic sea ice expands and shrinks with the seasons, growing during the cold, dark Arctic winters to reach an annual maximum extent, and then shrinking

41K views · 758 reactions | This animation depicts changes in sea...