Arctic sea ice extent, a measure of the ocean area in the northern hemisphere that's at least 15% sea ice, has trended down in past decades (NOAA, Fox Weather). The question will be suspended on 5 October 2023 and the outcome determined using graph data as provided by the National Snow & Ice Data Center's (NSIDC's) "Charctic Interactive Sea Ice Graph" at approximately 5:00PM ET on 6 October 2023 (Charctic Interactive Sea Ice Graph, About Charctic Data). Other site data would be immaterial. As of the launch of this question, the lowest daily reported arctic sea ice extent in 2022 was 4.704 million sq. km on 19 September.

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The question closed "Between 4.2 million sq. km and 4.6 million sq. km, inclusive" with a closing date of 6 October 2023.

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