Climate Central: As summer draws to a close, the Arctic sea ice melt season is coming to an end. And while the season didn't top 2012's astounding record melt, it has still resulted in what will likely be the sixth lowest September minimum ice extent on record.
The extent, or area, of Arctic sea ice on Sept. 16, 2014, as it approached its minimum at the end of the summer melt season. The orange line shows the average extent of sea ice for the period from 1981-2010.
The extent of the ice on Sept. 15 was 1.96...