Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2023

  • Released Monday, September 25, 2023
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Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2023 Horizontal Verison

Universal Production Music: Curiosity Instrumental by Blythe Joustra

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Arctic sea ice likely reached its annual minimum extent on Sept. 19, 2023, making it the sixth-lowest year in the satellite record, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest maximum extent on record on Sept. 10 at a time when the ice cover should have been growing at a much faster pace during the darkest and coldest months.

Scientists track the seasonal and annual fluctuations because sea ice shapes Earth’s polar ecosystems and plays a significant role in global climate. Researchers at NSIDC and NASA use satellites to measure sea ice as it melts and refreezes. They track sea ice extent, which is defined as the total area of the ocean in which the ice cover fraction is at least 15%.

More information can be found on NSIDC

Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2023 Vertical Version

This vertical version of the video is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed.

Universal Production Music: Curiosity Instrumental by Blythe Joustra

This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by Pond5.com is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, September 25, 2023.
This page was last updated on Monday, September 25, 2023 at 12:44 PM EDT.