The Arctic has reached its lowest sea ice extent since satellite observations began 47 years ago, with an average of 14.14 million square kilometres in March, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
This record low is 150,000 square kilometres below the previous record low for March in 2017, with the most pronounced ice retreat in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Barents Sea, with a rate of ice loss of 29,500 square kilometres per day from March 22 to April 1.