Today’s depressing news comes from a report on the Arctic’s warming trends. The report, sponsored by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found that unprecedented warm air over the Arctic caused extensive melting of sea ice, as well as land-based ice and snow in Greenland. The so-called Arctic Report Card showed a few new “records” this year: the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice from mid-October to late November was the lowest since satellite observations began in 1979.