Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the past four decades at the rate of − 4.7% per decade leading to an imbalance in the oceanic heat flux. The study reported that the July 2019 was the warmest month in the Arctic, leading to a substantial sea ice loss in the last 41 years. Consequently, during this month, the lowest sea ice extent (SIE, 7.5 million km²) and sea ice volume (8900 km³) were recorded. The decadal trend of sea ice decline in September 2019 has reached to ca. − 13% per decade. The latest record shows that average SIE during summer 2019 (5.65 million km²) has set a new lowest record after 2012 (5.32 million km²), since the sea ice formation process has been largely hampered during the summer months. The study reveals that the land–ocean warming processes intensifying the sea ice loss and also leading in disruption of the global ocean circulation.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. M. Ravichandran, Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and Ministry of Earth Sciences, for the continuous support and encouragement. Juhi Yadav thanks the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India, for the award of Junior Research Fellowship [No. F.15-6(DEC.2018)/2019(NET)]. We greatly acknowledge various organizations such as National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and thePolar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory for making various datasets available in their portals. Authors thank Prof. Thomas Glade, Editor-in-Chief for his insightful comments and suggestions. This is NCPOR contribution no J-5/2020-21.

Authors and Affiliations

1. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Science (Govt. of India), Vasco-da-Gama, Goa, India

   Juhi Yadav, Avinash Kumar & Rahul Mohan

Corresponding author

Correspondence toAvinash Kumar.

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