This week a plot showing the global sea ice over time went viral due to shockingly low levels, smashing previous records. The plot was so weird that we decided to check out the data for ourselves and see if it was legit. Indeed, we can reproduce this alarming plot and provide some links and scripts for any of you who want to go ahead and try yourselves. Here we get into why we think these kinds of weird observations may become more common in the future. ::More about this Video:: ► National Sea and Ice Data Center archive of sea ice extent data: https://nsidc.org/data/docs/noaa/g02135_seaice_index/ ► My Mathematica script used to generate a confirming plot: https://github.com/davidkipping/seaiceextent ► Two of the first tweets publicizing the viral plot, Zach Labe (https://twitter.com/ZLabe/status/798913080168095744) and Eric Holthaus (https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/800067428419940352). ► Wipneus archive of plots: https://sites.google.com/site/arctischepinguin/home/sea-ice-extent-area/grf ► Eric Holthaus blog article about the viral plot: http://tinyletter.com/sciencebyericholthaus/letters/today-in-weather-climate-sea-ice-tipping-point-edition-monday-november-21th ► Guardian article on record Arctic temperatures: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/22/extraordinarily-hot-arctic-temperatures-alarm-scientists ► CNN article on record Arctic temperatures: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/world/sea-ice-arctic-antarctic-lows/ ► Conrath at al. (1970), "The Infrared Interferometer Experiment on Nimbus 3": http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/JC075i030p05831/abstract ► Gavin Schmidt explains "How we know that the Earth's climate is changing": https://youtu.be/mkT7IyUSjq0 ► Video background music by Nick Caville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv2WSDMBRxA ::Playlists For Channel:: Latest Cool Worlds Videos ► http://bit.ly/NewCoolWorlds Cool Worlds Research ► http://bit.ly/CoolWorldsResearch Guest Videos ► http://bit.ly/CoolWorld