About three months ago, we did a story on Antarctica and the state that it was in. Just in the past week, research has come out about how record breaking this winter season has been for the South Pole.

According to the Snow and Ice Data Center, the maximum amount of sea ice for this year was the lowest on record by a huge margin. Not only was the sea ice extent the lowest on record, but it reached its maximum coverage on September 10th this year. That date for maximum sea ice coverage occurred 13 days earlier this year compared to the long running average.

The sea ice extent reached just about 6.56 million square miles, or about 398,000 square miles less than the old record. That is roughly the size of Texas and California combined!

As of last month, the Arctic Sea Ice Minimum reached its 6th lowest level of all time on September 19th. We won’t find out until next March whether or not the sea ice extent will get back to its average maximum, but time will tell.

Unfortunately, we’re running out of time and can’t keep playing the waiting game as the sea ice extent has been shrinking for years. Action needs to be taken immediately to reverse this trend and/or to adapt to the ongoing situation.