NASA | Arctic Sea Ice 101
With graphics and diagrams, NASA climate scientist Tom Wagner explains for us the shrinking state of the Arctic sea ice in 2009 and discusses NASA’s role in monitoring the cryosphere.
NASA Television video: Arctic Sea Ice 101
“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.” [...]
[...] The four lowest ice extents on record have occurred between 2005 and 2009, with the record minimum reached during a dramatic drop in ice cover in 2007 that was exacerbated by unusual polar winds.
Several recent studies based on data from NASA’s ICESat and QuikScat satellites have shown that, in addition to shrinking geographic ice coverage, the amount of multi-year ice cover – thicker ice that survives more than one summer — has been declining in recent years.
“The oceans are crucial to Earth’s climate system, since they store huge amounts of heat,” said Comiso. “Changes in sea ice cover can lead to circulation changes not just in the Arctic Ocean, but also in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. If you change ocean circulation, you change the world’s climate.” [...] Learn More: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/seaicemin09.html
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