The world’s air conditioner is on the fritz. Unprecedented, record-breaking warmth in the Arctic this year triggered declines in sea ice, snow, the Greenland ice sheet and a remarkable delay in the annual freeze of sea ice in the fall.

Overall, the Arctic in 2016 saw its warmest year ever recorded.

“Rarely have we seen the Arctic show a clearer, stronger or more pronounced signal of persistent warming and its cascading effects on the environment than this year,” said Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAA’s Arctic research program, which released its annual Arctic Report Card on Tuesday.

Even more worrisome: The trends are deepening and show no signs of letting up anytime soon. “All signs point to continuing on this trajectory,” Mathis said.

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A polar bear tests the strength of thin sea ice in the Arctic in the summer of 2015. (Photo: Mario Hoppmann, AFP/Getty Images)

Monthly change in the total mass (in gigatonnes) of the Greenland Ice Sheet between April 2002 and April 2016, (Photo: NOAA)