Earth ID: 13089

Arctic Sea Ice Cover Is the Thinnest and Youngest It's Been in 60 Years

Released on October 11, 2018

Working from a combination of satellite records and declassified submarine sonar data, NASA scientists have constructed a 60-year record of Arctic sea ice thickness. Right now, Arctic sea ice is the youngest and thinnest its been since we started keeping records. More than 70 percent of Arctic sea ice is now seasonal, which means it grows in the winter and melts in the summer, but doesn't last from year to year. This seasonal ice melts faster and breaks up easier, making it much more susceptible to wind and atmospheric conditions.

Source Material

Credits

Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer
Carol Rasmussen (NASA/JPL CalTech): Lead Writer
Ronald Kwok (NASA/JPL Caltech): Lead Scientist

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

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Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Age
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Sea Ice Thickness

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0