U.S. Heat and Energy Stress

Arctic sea ice reached a winter maximum of 5.52 million square miles (14.29 million km²), effectively tying last year’s record low of 5.53 million, a decline NSIDC scientist Walt Meier says reflects a steady winter downtrend rather than a sudden regime shift and gives the summer melt season a head start. The low came amid an unprecedented March heatwave that shattered records across 16 U.S. states and regions from Mexico to Australia, northern Africa, northern Europe and vast areas of Asia, even as Antarctica recorded an extreme cold benchmark of −105.5°F for March.