A New York Times article published in January \u201823<\/a> quotes NASA\u2019s analysis which ranked 2022 (tied with 2015) as the fifth warmest year. In 2022, the average global temperature was about 1.15 [1.02 to 1.27] \u00b0C above the average pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. The last 8 years are claimed to be the hottest so far. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2022 was the 8th consecutive year (2015-2022) when the annual global temperatures had reached at least 1\u00b0C above pre-industrial levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we keep following this trend, the likelihood of breaching (at least, temporarily) the 1.5\u00b0C limit of the Paris Agreement<\/a> is increasing with time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This global temperature rising more than normal, also called global warming, has begun to show dire climate change effects on sea levels and existing flora and fauna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an example of the climate change effects across the world, Europe had its warmest January, in 2023, on record, while North America and Africa each had a January that ranked among the 10 warmest on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to NASA analyses of ground-based observations and satellite data, global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent \u2014 the two key climate change indicators \u2014 had broken numerous records as early as the first half of 2016. In 2023, Arctic sea ice extent ranked third lowest on record, while Antarctic sea ice hit a record low for January. An exceptionally strong El Ni\u00f1o event had occurred in 2016, which contributed to the record global temperatures. The culprit of course, is the rising concentrations of global warming – heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere causing these anomalies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the northern hemisphere, as winter kicked into gear in 2016, the Arctic began witnessing an ominous trend. Less of the northern ocean was covered in ice than ever seen before in satellite records and imagery.<\/span> It has only worsened after that. According to satellite observations, Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent (lowest amount of ice for the year) on Sept. 18, 2022. The ice cover shrank to an area of 4.67 million square kilometers (1.80 million square miles) this year, roughly 1.55 million square kilometers (598,000 square miles) below the 1981-2010 average minimum of 6.22 million square kilometers (2.40 million square miles). As of March 2023, the average Arctic sea ice extent was 14.44 million square kilometers (5.58 million square miles), putting it at the sixth lowest position as per the satellite records. Below is an image of the Arctic sea ice extent for March 2023, which was recorded at 14.44 million square kilometers (5.58 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month i.e. March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why should anyone care about polar ice? The Arctic plays an important regulatory role in the global climate, and thus, both an important weapon and barometer for us to gauge global warming. The Arctic ice acts like a big mirror, reflecting sunlight back into space, thus regulating global temperatures. Burn up the arctic ice and it shall be like turning off the AC on the whole planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/entropy_climate_change_events_january_2023-1024x748.png\")
![\"Global](\"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/entropy_global_warming_mean_temperatire.png\")
The Worrisome Case of the Arctic Sea Ice Collapse<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/entropy_sea_ice_arctic.png\")