Spatial distribution of trends and seasonally in the hemispheric sea ice covers: 1978–1996

We extend earlier analyses of a 8.8‐year sea ice data set that described the local seasonal variations and trends in each of the hemispheric sea ice covers to the recently merged 18.2‐year sea ice record from four satellite instruments. The seasonal cycle characteristics remain essentially the same as for the shorter time series, but the local trends are markedly different, in some cases reversing sign. The sign reversal reflects the lack of a consistent long‐term trend and could be the result of localized long‐term oscillations in the hemispheric sea ice covers. By combining the separate hemispheric sea ice records into a global one, we have shown that there are statistically significant net decreases in the sea ice coverage on a global scale. The change in the global sea ice extent is −0.01 ± 0.003 × 10 6 km 2 per decade. The decrease in the areal coverage of the sea ice is only slightly smaller, so that the difference in the two, the ice‐free areas within the packs, has no statistically significant change.