The principal finding of the new NASA study, conducted in conjunction with the British Antarctic Study, relates to a significant growth in Antarctic sea ice drift caused by changes in the wind currents around Antarctica observed over the past twenty years. Changes in wind currents can arise due to an alteration in underlying sea temperatures and it is here that the rapid ice loss seen in the Arctic Ocean may be reconciled with what would appear, at first glance, to be conflicting data from the Antarctic. In mid-October Digital Journal reported on the record ice melt of Arctic sea ice observed by NASA which now has comparative data on the Arctic polar ice cap dating back almost 35 years.

This year, a powerful cyclone formed off the coast of Alaska and moved on Aug. 5 to the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it churned the weakened ice cover for several days. The storm cut off a large section of sea ice north of the Chukchi Sea and pushed it south to warmer waters that made it melt entirely. It also broke vast extensions of ice into smaller pieces more likely to melt.

"The storm definitely seems to have played a role in this year's unusually large retreat of the ice", Parkinson said. "But that exact same storm, had it occurred decades ago when the ice was thicker and more extensive, likely wouldn't have had as prominent an impact, because the ice wasn't as vulnerable then as it is now."