1.4 Million square miles of Sea Arctic Ice have melted since the early 1980s
Imagine if, in the years since Ronald Reagan launched his successful presidential campaign, 44 percent of the United States had disappeared—1.4 million square miles, an area equivalent to all the states east of Texas. That's how much sea ice has disappeared from the Arctic Ocean since satellites began taking reliable images of the region 32 years ago. Arctic ice is most extensive in the sunless winter and shrinks to its annual minimum each September. Over the years, that minimum has become increasingly minimal, declining by 40 percent since 1979.
Paul Rauber, "Before Our Eyes: Shrinking Arctic Ice," Sierra Magazine, March/April 2012. http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201203/grapple-shrinking-arctic-ice-129...