Arctic sea ice levels over the Barents Sea and Hudson Bay were
the third lowest on record since officials began monitoring the
area by satellite in 1979, according to the National Snow and
Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Last month the sea ice extent averaged
3.96 million square miles, 405,000 square miles less than the
average from the period between 1979 and 2000. Arctic sea ice
experiences significant melting during the summer months. By
November, darkness sweeps the Arctic, air temperatures plummet,
and sea ice grows rapidly. However, both the Barents Sea and
Hudson Bay experienced a slow freeze-up this fall. In the
Barents Sea, ice growth was slowed by winds that pushed the ice
northwards into the central Arctic. The deepest of the Arctic’s
coastal seas, the Barents Sea is open on its southern and
northern boundaries, which creates a significant wind corridor.
Southerly winds created a high-pressure area over Siberia and
low pressure in the northern Atlantic Ocean in November. Those
winds transported warm air a