{"id":3876,"date":"2026-04-06T12:06:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/facts-about-the-arctic-in-april-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:06:54","slug":"facts-about-the-arctic-in-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/facts-about-the-arctic-in-april-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Facts About the Arctic in April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>In early April <a href=\"https:\/\/ads.nipr.ac.jp\/vishop\/#\/extent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">JAXA Arctic sea ice extent<\/a>\u00a0is 3rd lowest for the date, albeit in a \u201cstatistical tie\u201d with last year:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"470\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x470-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x470-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04-300x138.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04-768x352.png 768w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JAXA-Extent-2026-04-04.png 1110w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Alfred Wegener Institute\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/sea-ice\/startseite\">regional extent graphs<\/a> reveal an intriguing divergence on the Pacific periphery, where sea ice extent in the Sea of Okhotsk is at an all time low for the date in the AMSR2 record:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x512-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x512-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Okhotsk-Extent-2026-04-04.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the other hand extent in the Bering Sea is close to an all time high:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x512-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04-1024x512-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AWI-Bering-Extent-2026-04-04.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the Atlantic periphery extent is less extreme, although there is currently open water north of Svalbard: <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"918\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404-1024x918-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404-1024x918-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404-300x269.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404-768x689.png 768w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404-1536x1377.png 1536w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SIC-LEADS_CAB-20260404.png 1721w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Looking at the third dimension, here is the AWI\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spaces.awi.de\/spaces\/CS2SMOS\/pages\/297634429\/CryoSat-2+Sentinel-3+SMOS+Merged+Sea+Ice+Thickness\">CryoSat-2\/Sentinel 3\/SMOS Arctic sea ice thickness\u00a0<\/a>map at the end of March:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-thickness_2026-03-31.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-thickness_2026-03-31.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-thickness_2026-03-31.png 1024w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-thickness_2026-03-31-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-thickness_2026-03-31-768x516.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Here too is the associated volume graph:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-volume_2026-03-31.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"954\" height=\"637\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-volume_2026-03-31.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-volume_2026-03-31.png 954w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-volume_2026-03-31-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CS2-S3-SMOS-volume_2026-03-31-768x513.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 954px) 100vw, 954px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Note that thickness and hence volume is likely to be biased high on the Atlantic side of the Arctic due to continuous radio frequency interference affecting SMOS data:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SMOS-20260404.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"757\" src=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SMOS-20260404.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SMOS-20260404.png 624w, https:\/\/greatwhitecon.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SMOS-20260404-247x300.png 247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Watch this space!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early April JAXA Arctic sea ice extent\u00a0is 3rd lowest for the date, albeit in a \u201cstatistical tie\u201d with last year: The Alfred Wegener Institute\u2019s regional extent graphs reveal an intriguing divergence on the Pacific periphery, where sea ice extent&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}