The Arctic sea ice melt season is roughly 40 days longer than in 1979, yet its rapid expansion unexpectedly leveled off around 2010. Changing clouds and increasingly thin ice may explain the pause, but continued Arctic warming could eventually trigger another period of rapid change. This doesn’t mean shifts in Earth’s climate have stopped affecting the Arctic which continues to warm nearly four times faster than the global average, with remaining sea ice substantially thinner than several decades ago. Rather the Arctic may have entered a new phase, where annual weather patterns exert a stronger influence on melt season than they once did.
Climate Crisis Blog
