Sea Ice News

Thickly packed sea ice in the Arctic from a photo taken in 1949. One day thick, stable sea ice in the Arctic will likely be a thing of the past…

Sea ice cover in the Arctic shrank to one of its smallest extents on record this week, bringing forward the days of an entirely ice-free Arctic during the summer. The…

As sea ice levels continue to decline in the northern hemisphere, scientists are observing an unsettling trend in harp seal young mortalities regardless of juvenile fitness. While a recent study…

Rapid thawing of the Arctic could trigger a catastrophic "economic timebomb" which would cost trillions of dollars and undermine the global financial system, say a group of economists and polar…

Weather patterns around the globe are getting weirder and weirder: heat waves and record snow storms in Spring, blasts of Arctic air followed by sudden summer, record deluges and then…

Four young explorers including American actor Ezra Miller have planted a flag on the seabed at the north pole and demanded the region is declared a global sanctuary. The expedition,…

Melting sea ice, exposing huge parts of the ocean to the atmosphere, explains extreme weather both hot and cold Climate scientists have linked the massive snowstorms and bitter spring weather…

Optimal September navigation routes for ice-strengthened (red) and common open-water (blue) ships traveling between Rotterdam, The Netherlands and St. John's, Newfoundland in the years 2040-2059. Credit: Image courtesy Laurence C.…

Few places are changing as rapidly as the Arctic due to global warming. Last year, scientists were stunned when the Arctic's seasonal ice extent fell to record low that was…

Arctic snowfall accumulation plays a critical role in ringed seal breeding, but may be at risk due to climate change, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters. Sea…

Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo ©: Gary Braasch/World View of Global Warming. Twelve miles off shore from the Arctic National…

Sea ice extent hit a record low on August 26th, and then continued to decline another 700,000 square kilometers. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center…

Sea ice extent hits record low on August 26th. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). One of the most visible impacts of climate change—melting…

Bottom blue line represents sea ice extent as of August 13th, tracking well below the record set in 2007. Graph courtesy of U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Click…

A satellite image released by NASA last week shows a key channel that forms part of the Northwest Passage is partially free of ice. The image, acquired by the Moderate…

Humpback whale. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Humpback whales in the Antarctic are delaying their migration to feed on krill that are staying later due to reduced extent of sea…

ICESCAPE scientist Karen Frey taking optical measurements in a melt pond, with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy on the background. Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Kathryn Hansen. Given everything…

Approximate site of preliminarily approved drilling by Shell. Pink outline is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Image made with Google Earth. Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior…

The map above was made from observations by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). Centered on the North Pole, the image shows sea ice concentration on March 18, with white…

Scientists expect that the Arctic will be fully ice-free during summer sometime during this century. Graph by: Dominiklenne. Last year the Arctic, which is warming faster than anywhere else on…