After melting past the previous record minimum in late August, Arctic sea ice cap has continued its rapid decline.
By September 5, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) said the ice cap had fallen below 4 million square kilometres 鈥 鈥渁 45% reduction in the area of the Arctic covered by sea ice鈥 since the 1980s and 鈥90s.
This year鈥檚 melt 鈥渄idn鈥檛 just touch the record, it really drove right through it鈥, the NSIDC鈥檚 Ted Scambos told US National Public Radio on September 12.