After the Arctic Ocean recorded its second-lowest summer ice minimum last month, conditions have grown worse across the region. Large parts of the Arctic Ocean, which historically should be covered in new sea ice by now, remain largely ice free. 

Large holes had developed by mid-August in the low-concentration ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, according to National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Arctic’s like an air conditioner or refrigerator for the global climate...And as the Arctic warms, partly because the sea ice is going away, it’s like you’re opening that refrigerator door.