Earth ID: 12335

2016 Sea Ice Minimum Live Shots

Released on August 15, 2016

Arctic Sea Ice Trending Low After Record 2016 Heat

NASA Scientists Available August 19 To Show New Views Of The Arctic During Summer Melt Season

Record-breaking temperatures in the first half of 2016 have primed the Arctic for another summer of low sea ice cover. Sea ice is frozen ocean water around the polar caps that, in the winter thickens and grows and in the summer thins and decreases. Arctic sea ice is important because it reflects sunlight and keeps the Arctic region cool. Over the past three decades, Arctic sea ice has dramatically declined; making what was once extraordinary low measurements the new normal.

Join NASA scientists on Friday August 19th from 6:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EDT to show your viewers new images from the Arctic, and talk about how the polar region is fairing this summer, and how long-term changes in this region could affect the way we live in the U.S.

The Arctic is Earth’s air conditioner and it helps regulate global temperatures. But the region is warming twice as fast as elsewhere in the world, making the Arctic one of the most visible signs of a changing planet.

NASA is keeping a close eye on changing conditions in the Arctic with its satellites, airborne and ground campaigns that are measuring the polar sea ice. Scientists are also monitoring the ice sheets that sit on land that are also melting at increasing rates. In 2018 NASA will launch the ICESat-2 satellite that will make some of the most advanced measurements of the polar regions ever.

** To book a window ** Michelle Handleman/ michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov / 301-286-0918 work

Suggested Questions:

1. Globally it’s been the warmest year on record. What do the latest images show us about this year’s summer in the Arctic?

2. What is sea ice and why is it important to the Arctic and the Earth as a whole?

3. Do you think we’ll ever see an ice-free Arctic?

4. What about the rest of the Arctic – aren’t we seeing changes in Greenland, too?

5. Where can we learn more?

Live Shot Details:

Location: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Greenbelt, Maryland

Scientists:

• Dr. Walt Meier / NASA Scientist 

• Dr. Tom Wagner / NASA Cryosphere Program Manager

• Dr. Carlos Del Castillo / NASA Scientist [Interviews in Spanish]

Video: NASA will roll all insert videos during live interviews. If needed, stations can roll a clean feed of all video at 5:45 a.m. EDT on August 18, 2016, at the above listed satellite.

Canned interviews and b-roll will be available starting August 18 at 6:00 p.m. EDT
On Twitter @NASAEarth

July 2016 was the warmest July in 136 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

Because the seasonal temperature cycle peaks in July, it means July 2016 also was warmer than any other month on record. It wasn't by the widest of margins, but July 2016 was the warmest month since modern record keeping began in 1880,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.

This graph shows the temperature anomalies around the globe for the month of July 2016. For each area in the graph, the average temperature for July 2016 was compared to the average temperature of all Julys during the years 1951 to 1980.

For more information, go to http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/news/20160816/