As air and sea temperatures rise, Arctic sea ice is rapidly and uniformly dwindling. In 2012, Arctic sea ice declined so much that the loss "utterly" obliterated the previous record, set in 2007, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

As of 2012, the area of Arctic sea ice around the North Pole had shrunk to 1.58 million square miles (4.1 million square kilometers)—the smallest measurement since 1979, when satellite observations began.

But in Antarctica, where sea ice is more scattered and driven by wind and waves, there's another story—ice is increasing in places.

In September of last year, satellite data indicated that Antarctica was surrounded by the greatest area of sea ice ever recorded in