http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

Arctic sea ice has passed its annual maximum extent and is beginning its seasonal decline through the spring and summer. While total extent was not at record low, it remained well below average through March. …

Levels of multiyear ice remain extremely low. The ice is thinner, and satellite data suggests that first-year ice may now cover the North Pole area for the first time since winter 2008. …

Average ice extent for March 2013 was the fifth lowest for the month in the satellite record. Through 2013, the linear rate of decline for March ice extent is 2.5% per decade relative to the 1979 to 2000 average. While the percentage trend is lower than in the summer [13.0%/decade!--ER], the average rate of decrease is 39,800 square kilometers (15,300 square miles) per year, roughly the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. …

While multiyear ice used to cover up to 60% of the Arctic Ocean, it now covers only 30%. There is a slight rebound in the oldest ice (4+ years old), a remnant of the large amount of first-year ice that formed during the winter after the 2007 record minimum. However, most of that new ice has not survived through the subsequent years. The oldest ice now comprises only 5% of the ice in the Arctic Ocean. This is a slight uptick from last winter’s record low of 3%, but still far less than during the 1980s when old ice covered roughly 25% of the region.