Science @ CIRES > Research Divisions > Cryospheric and Polar Processes

Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

Arctic sea ice is shrinking, according to CIRES scientists, who have been monitoring the minimum sea ice coverage now for several years.This has significant implications for climate change, because melting ice exposes dark ocean, causing the planet to absorb additional solar radiation and warm further. Over the years, our researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have used remote sensing technology to follow this downward trend in ice coverage. Their observations suggest that the rate of September sea ice decline has steepened, since 2002, to 8.6 percent per decade, or 60,421 square kilometers per year, an area more than twice the size of the state of Massachusetts.

For more information, see these news stories:

• April 4, 2007: Arctic Sea Ice Narrowly Missed Record Low In Winter 2007
• March 15, 2007: Arctic Sea Ice Decline May Trigger Climate Change Cascade
• Oct. 3, 2006: Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks as Temperatures Rise: Despite Cool Temperatures In August, Summer Sea Ice Falls Below Normal For Fifth Year
• Sept. 28, 2005: Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline As Arctic Temperatures Rise
• Dec. 07, 2002: Arctic Sea Ice Shrinking, Greenland Ice Sheet Melting, According to Study