PARIS, France: Arctic sea ice is headed for one of its smallest winter peaks on record, an AFP review of US data showed on Wednesday, as climate change shrinks the region´s frozen cover and heightens geopolitical tensions.
Formed when ocean water freezes, Arctic sea ice melts naturally in summer and reforms in winter, but the amount that returns has been declining due to human-induced planetary warming.
The maximum sea ice extent in the Arctic reached nearly 14.22 million square kilometres on March 10, according to the data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
If the trend continues before winter ends later this month, it would rank among the five smallest ice covers in four decades of satellite monitoring, possibly even breaking last year´s record.
