NSIDC: In June, Arctic sea ice saw lowest extent and fastest rate of decline in the satellite record

This year will almost certainly set the record for lowest Arctic ice volume ever recorded (see "When things were rotten").  But whether it will set the less important — but more visible — record for sea ice extent is less certain.  You can see how close 2010 is to 2007 now.

On the one hand, the National Snow and Ice Data Center just issued their July report, which notes, "June saw the return of the Arctic dipole anomaly, an atmospheric pressure pattern that contributed to the record sea...