Arctic sea ice reached its lowest extent on record and the first ten months of 2012 were among the hottest on record again, according to the United Nations’ global climate office, which said “climate change is taking place before our eyes.”

January through October 2012 was the ninth warmest on record since 1850, despite cooler temperatures during the year’s first few months due to the cooling influence of La Niña, the World Meteorological Organization said. Michel Jarraud, the WMO’s secretary general, said he found the group’s findings scary. Between March and September, 4.57 million square miles of Arctic sea ice—an area larger than the size of the continental United States—melted.