“The ice thickness was fairly constant for the five winters before this, but it plummeted in the winter after the 2007 minimum.”

– lead author Dr. Katharine Giles

A new study, conducted by academics from University College London, published in Geophysical Research Letters and reported by the BBC, shows that the total mass of Arctic ice has dropped to the lowest level ever recorded by satellite.

Previous studies had shown the extent or total area of Arctic sea ice reached its smallest level in 2007, but this new work shows that the ice thinned a great deal more in 2008, reducing total mass to a record low.