The area of frozen ocean that caps the North Pole was smaller this past month than during any January on record.
Measurements released last week by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) showed Arctic sea ice at the lowest level since satellite record keeping began in 1979 — roughly 35,000 square miles smaller than 2011's record low and over 400,000 square miles smaller than the historic average. The new low, scientists said, was caused by record high atmospheric temperatures, but is part of the broad pattern of climate change that is rapidly altering the Arctic.

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