Sea ice extent in the Arctic at the end of the summer melt season over 1979-2026, based on satellite observations. The total extent is the area of all pixels in the satellite image where the ice concentration is at least 15 percent. The amount of sea ice ice that survives the summer melt is declining overall, although extents have been holding steady for the last 20 years. Climate.us image, based on daily minimum extent values from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Photo by Anita Gould, used under a Flickr CC BY-NC 4.0 license.