Latest Sea ice Stories

Large blooms of tiny marine plants flourish in Antarctic waters left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic PeninsulaLarge blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. As the blooms die back phytoplankton sinks to the...

International scientists, researchers and decision makers met at the "˜Space and the Arctic workshop' to identify the needs and challenges of working and living in the rapidly changing Arctic and to explore how space-based services can help to meet those needs.The workshop, held from 20 to 21 October in Stockholm, Sweden, was organized by the Swedish National Space Board and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute together with ESA, EUMETSAT and the EC.The warmer climate,...

Polar shipping routes have finally been unblocked, thanks to the virtual disappearance of the multiyear ice spanning the Arctic Ocean, according to an Arctic expert.For centuries, enormous sheets of multiyear ice reaching up to 260 feet thick have impeded the way of ships looking for a short cut through the fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, Canada's Research Chair in Arctic System Science at the University of Manitoba, David Barber, noted that the ice is...

A team of researchers report that the Arctic ice cap could be non-existent during the summer months 20 to 30 years from now.Pen Hadow led the Catlin Arctic Survey team that explored the Arctic ice cap for 73 days.The team took more than 6,000 measurements during March and May in order to reach their conclusions on the condition of the Arctic ice cap.They traveled 290 miles, beginning in northern Canada, documenting ice thickness, density and depth.Based on their observations, the team...

U.S. satellite measurements show Arctic sea ice extent in 2009 "“ the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by floating ice "“ was the third lowest since satellite measurements were first made in 1979. The ice area at minimum was an increase from the past two years, but still well below the average for the past 30 years.Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent around September 12. According to scientists affiliated with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), sea ice coverage dropped...

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 8, to preview the agency's largest airborne research effort ever to study Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice.The flights are part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year airborne campaign to each of Earth's polar regions that will extend and expand NASA's multi-year record of space-based observations of ice conditions. Advancing scientific understanding of the behavior of polar ice is needed to improve...

Remains On Downward TrendDespite a slight recovery in summer Arctic sea ice in 2009 from record-setting low years in 2007 and 2008, the sea ice extent remains significantly below previous years and remains on a trend leading toward ice-free Arctic summers, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center.According to the CU-Boulder center, the 2009 minimum sea ice extent was the third lowest since satellite record-keeping began in 1979. The past five...

The U.S. space agency says it is ready to start a study of the Earth's southern ice-covered regions to identify changes in sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers.On Oct. 12, NASA's Operation Ice Bridge resumes when the space agency's DC-8 -- the largest aircraft in its science fleet -- leaves the Dryden Flight Research Center in California for Punta Arenas, Chile, where it will be based through mid-November.For six weeks, the Ice Bridge team will traverse the Southern Ocean for up to 17 flights...

This summer's melt of Arctic sea ice might not have been quite as bad as the past two years, but satellite images reveal that it has now had the third biggest melt in 30 years, according to U.S. government scientists.The announcement was made on Thursday by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which reported that the Arctic sea ice pack had reached its yearly minimum just last Saturday. It will not begin to grow again until fall begins. As of last Saturday, the sea ice only covered...

CU-Boulder's Snow and Ice Data Center analysis shows negative summertime ice trend continuesThe Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest recorded since satellites began measuring sea ice extent in 1979, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center.While this year's September minimum extent was greater than each of the past two record-setting and near-record-setting low years, it is still...