"With the annual pullback of Arctic Ocean sea ice at an end, it’s clear that this year’s retreat is nowhere near the satellite-era record set in 2012, but it’s also clear that there is still a long-term trajectory toward a largely open-water Arctic in summers in coming decades."

"The image above is from The Cryosphere Today, a valuable Website maintained by William Chapman and others at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The National Snow and Ice Data Center has not quite officially called the 'minimum,' but it is nigh."

Andrew C. Revkin reports for Dot Earth in the New York Times September 18, 2013. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks To Sixth-Lowest Extent on Record" (Guardian) [3]