This animation shows measurements of sea ice extent for the time period 1979-2011 from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) for 1) the Antarctic, 2) the Arctic, and 3) the sum of the two (global sea ice extent), each with linear trend lines. The data are smoothed with a 12-month running average. While a slight increase in Antarctic sea ice is seen, it is overwhelmed by the loss of Arctic sea ice at three times the rate, leading to a global loss of sea ice of approximately 1 million square kilometers over the past three decades.
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