Arctic sea ice hit a record low level for the second straight year this month amid high winter temperatures over the Arctic Ocean, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre and Nasa.

On March 24, sea ice extent over the Arctic Ocean averaged 14.52 million square kilometres, beating last year’s record low of 14.54 million square kilometres on February 25.

I’ve never seen such a warm, crazy winter in the Arctic. The heat was relentless

“I’ve never seen such a warm, crazy winter in the Arctic. The heat was relentless,” said NSIDC director Mark Serreze.

The scientists said air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean for the months of December, January and February were 2°C to 6°C above average throughout the Arctic’s regions.

Average global temperatures in February were 1.35°C above normal for that time of year, the biggest temperature excess recorded for any month against a baseline of 1951-1980, according to Nasa data released earlier this month.