'''DEFINITION'''

Estimates of Arctic sea ice extent are obtained from the surface of oceans grid cells that have at least 15% sea ice concentration. These values are cumulated in the entire Northern Hemisphere (excluding ice lakes) and from 1993 up to the year 2019 aiming to:

i) obtain the Arctic sea ice extent as expressed in millions of km square (106 km2) to monitor both the large-scale variability and mean state and change.

ii) to monitor the change in sea ice extent as expressed in millions of km squared per decade (106 km2/decade), or in sea ice extent loss since the beginning of the time series as expressed in percent per decade (%/decade; reference period being the first date of the key figure b) dot-dashed trend line, Vaughan et al., 2013). These trends are calculated in three ways, i.e. (i) from the annual mean values; (ii) from the March values (winter ice loss); (iii) from September values (summer ice loss).

The Arctic sea ice extent used here is based on the “multi-product” approach as introduced in the second issue of the Ocean State Report (CMEMS OSR, 2017). Five global products have been used to build the ensemble mean, and its associated ensemble spread.

'''CONTEXT'''

Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface. This large blanket of millions of square kilometers insulates the relatively warm ocean waters from the cold polar atmosphere. The seasonal cycle of the sea ice, forming and melting with the polar seasons, impacts both human activities and biological habitat. Knowing how and how much the sea ice cover is changing is essential for monitoring the health of the Earth as sea ice is one of the highest sensitive natural environments. Variations in sea ice cover can induce changes in ocean stratification, in global and regional sea level rates and modify the key rule played by the cold poles in the Earth engine (IPCC, 2019).

The sea ice cover is monitored here in terms of sea ice extent quantity. More details and full scientific evaluations can be found in the CMEMS Ocean State Report (Samuelsen et al., 2016; Samuelsen et al., 2018).

'''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS'''

Since the year 1993 the Arctic sea ice extent has decreased significantly at an annual rate of -0.75*106 km2 per decade. This represents an amount of –5.8 % per decade of Arctic sea ice extent loss over the period 1993 to 2018. Summer (September) sea ice extent loss amounts to -1.18*106 km2/decade (September values), which corresponds to -14.85% per decade. Winter (March) sea ice extent loss amounts to -0.57*106 km2/decade, which corresponds to -3.42% per decade. These values slightly exceed the estimates given in the AR5 IPCC assessment report (estimate up to the year 2012) as a consequence of continuing Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent loss. Main change in the mean seasonal cycle is characterized by less and less presence of sea ice during summertime with time. The last twelve years have the twelve lowest summer minimums ever measured since 1993, the summer 2012 still being the lowest minimum. 2019 follows the recent trend of the 2010's with a summer and winter well below the 1990-2000's average.

Note: The key findings will be updated annually in November, in line with OMI evolutions.

'''DOI (product):'''

https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00190