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FACT BRIEF

Did Arctic ice 'just' reach its highest point in 20 years in December of 2021?

By Marlo Lee
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NO

A social media post making the claim apparently stems from a seven-year-old article.

Up-to-date satellite records from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which monitors the ice in the Arctic, show significant declines since the satellites first began measuring in 1978. The last 15 years are the lowest the satellite has seen in its 43 years of recording.

The post refers to conditions in both the Arctic and Antarctica. Data collected by The National Aeronautics and Space Administration directly refutes the claim as to Arctic ice:

"Sea ice in the Arctic appears to have hit its annual minimum extent on Sept. 16, after waning in the 2021 Northern Hemisphere spring and summer. The summertime extent is the 12th lowest in the satellite record, according to scientists at the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA."

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
NASA NASA Finds 2021 Arctic Summer Sea Ice 12th Lowest on Record – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.