This graph shows the average monthly Arctic sea ice extent each September since 1979, derived from satellite observations. This visualization shows sea surface temperature (SST) data from January 2016 through March 2020. In 2018, NASA was first able to confirm the presence of frozen water "in the shadows of craters near the poles, where the warmest temperatures never reach above … Track Earth's vital signs and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites. Figure 6: Color-coded map of the daily sea ice concentration in the Southern Hemisphere for the indicated recent date along with the contours of the 15% edge during the years with the least extent of ice (in red) and the greatest extent of ice (in yellow) during the period from November 1978 to the present. Video: The ocean's important role in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At that time, ice which had been aging for years encompassed 20% of the total ice in the Arctic. Video: Seasonal changes in carbon dioxide. NASA's Aquarius mission is painting a global picture of our planet's salty waters. The NASA research team found that in the 1980s, sea ice on average in the Arctic was 6.6 feet thick in October. “Globally it’s been the warmest year on record,” said NASA scientist Walt Meier from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland “That’s resulted in … Earth's ice cover is shrinking. Keep track of Earth's vital signs, see the planet in a state of flux and slow the pace of global warming with NASA's free mobile apps. Video: Images created from GRACE data showing changes in Greenland ice mass since 2002. Scientists have been watching this feedback loop of war… The sea ice cover is one of the key components of the polar climate system. Every summer, the Arctic ice cap melts to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase. Figure 2: Color-coded map of the daily sea ice concentration in the Northern Hemisphere for the indicated recent date along with the contours of the 15% edge during the years with the least extent of ice (in red) and the greatest extent of ice (in yellow) during the period from November 1978 to the present. When temperatures warm over time and more sea ice melts, fewer bright surfaces reflect sunlight back into space. The layering of the cap is easy to see. The left image was taken via a Nasa satellite in 2015, the right was taken in 2020 and shows the ice caps have vanished Credit: NSIDC Mark Serreze, director of NSIDC, researched Canada's St. Patrick Bay ice caps in the 1980s when he was a student. The layers record the seasonal deposition of dust and ice over the course of 1000's of years. It follows seasonal patterns of thickening and melting. Video: Ocean circulation plays an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Learn more about how they work, why they measure ocean winds, and what the QuikScat mission accomplished during its time in orbit. Video: Global sea level rise is accelerating incrementally over time rather than increasing at a steady rate. The past decade has been the hottest ever recorded since global temperature records began 150 years ago. At the end of the month, extent was particularly low in the Bering Sea after a rapid retreat during the second half of the month. Combined, melting ice … The urgent questions are by how much and how quickly. The different shades of gray over land indicate the land elevation with the lightest gray being the highest elevation. Video: NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) and Operation IceBridge missions investigate Greenland's thinning ice sheets from above and below. Explore a stunning gallery of before-and-after images of Earth from land and space that reveal our home planet in a state of flux. Its bright surface reflects sunlight back into space. This video discusses the impacts of the sun's energy, Earth's reflectance and greenhouse gasses on global warming. Embed this resource by pasting the following code into your website: This website is produced by the Earth Science Communications Team at, Site Editor: These images use data from the AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified Level-3 12.5 km product. See how climate change has affected glaciers, sea ice, and continental ice sheets. Randal Jackson The extents in km2 for the current and for the years of minimum and maximum extents are provided below the image. The thicker ice, known as multi-year ice, survives through the cyclical summer melt season, when young ice that has formed over winter just as quickly melts again. The plots and color-coded maps are chosen to provide information about the current state of the sea ice cover and how the most current daily data available compare with the record lows and record highs for the same date during the satellite era. Although found only in the Arctic and the Antarctic, it influences Earth’s climate in big ways. Track Earth's vital signs from space and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites in an interactive 3D visualization. There are no requirements with respect to size or composition for a body of ice to be termed a polar ice cap, nor any geological requirement for it to be over land, but only that it must be a body of solid phase matter in the polar region. QuikScat: A Pioneer of Satellite Scatterometry (Video). Satellites have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1979. Video: NASA's vantage point to view Earth. Arctic sea ice is the cap of frozen seawater blanketing most of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas in wintertime. In 2020, the Arctic minimum sea ice … NASA also estimates that since the beginning of the 20th century, total ice loss of the Earth’s polar ice caps is a whopping 49,000 gigatonnes. Sea ice extent is the integral sum of the areas of all grid cells with at least 15% ice concentration, while sea ice area is the integral sum of the product of ice concentration and area of all grid cells with at least 15% ice concentration. September Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of 13.1 percent per decade, relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. The different shades of gray over land indicate the land elevation with the lightest gray being the highest elevation. The sea ice cover is one of the key components of the polar climate system. Figure 7. See how the quantity has changed from 1979 through 2018. This was the eleventh lowest in the satellite record, 650,000 square kilometers (251,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2020 March average and 490,000 square kilometers (189,000 square miles) above the record low March extent in 2017. Since 1901, the global sea level has risen by about 8 inches (20 cm). This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 satellite on May 14, 2001. Figure 8: Color-coded animation displaying the last 2 weeks of the daily sea ice concentrations in the Southern Hemisphere. Arctic sea ice has not only been shrinking in surface area in recent years, it’s becoming younger and thinner as well. J. C. Comiso, C. L. Parkinson, T. Markus, D. J. Cavalieri and R. Gersten. When Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum in September 2020, it was one of the lowest extents of the satellite record—second only to the record low in September 2012. Indeed, the polar ice has, for almost three years now, remained above the 35 year average. Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase. Arctic sea ice extent in January 2020 is sitting ABOVE levels observed in the years 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012 (record low extent), 2011, AND 2010.. Can you imagine the likes of The Guardian, for example, ever running with this? This image acquired on August 20, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows remnants of a deposit, composed of dry ice layered together with dust and water ice, that form the south polar residual cap. Scientists using radar data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have found a record of the most recent Martian ice age recorded in the planet's north polar ice cap. According to NASA, this rise is due to a combination of melting ice and water expanding due to increased temperatures. Mars’ Polar Caps and Present-day Conditions (14.2 MB .pdf) Patricio Becerra Universität Bern: Polar Stratigraphy (64.2 MB .pdf) Melinda Kahre NASA Ames Research Center: Amazonian Climate Modeling: Christine Hvidberg Univ. Sea ice concentration is the percent areal coverage of ice within the data element (grid cell). This results from the high reflectivity (albedo) of the sea ice compared to ice-free waters. Salinity plays a major role in global ocean circulation and changes in salinity may impact regional and global climates. It has been a focus of attention in recent years, largely because of a strong decrease in the Arctic sea ice cover and modeling results that indicate that global warming could be amplified in the Arctic on account of ice-albedo feedback. Today's VIS image shows a small part of the south polar cap. These images use data from the AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified Level-3 12.5 km product. A spring phytoplankton bloom off of the Alaskan coast. of Copenhagen Terrestrial Ice Sheets in Climate Studies A satellite-based data record starting in late 1978 shows that indeed rapid changes have been occurring in the Arctic, where the ice coverage has been declining at a substantial rate. Video: A high-resolution, three-dimensional view of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015. Nasa images show two Canadian ice caps have disappeared. Just a century ago, this body of water was covered in ice. The information provided in the video stated that the first ice loss occurred over a few years in 1989. These … The ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica is … The different shades of gray over land indicate the land elevation with the lightest gray being the highest elevation. The vertical line represents the last data point plotted. Fly in 360 degrees over Greenland’s craggy glaciers and other ice formations from NASA’s P-3 aircraft. Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1979. Analysis of satellite data by NSIDC and NASA showed that the extent of ice cover this year effectively tied 2007 and 2016 as the second lowest in the satellite record, which dates back to late 1978. Arctic sea ice reached its annual summer minimum on September 18, 2019, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Travel through Earth's recent climate history and see how increasing carbon dioxide, global temperature and sea ice have changed over time. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from January 2016 through March 2020. Video: The NASA satellite fleet in 2017, from low Earth orbit to the DSCOVR satellite taking in the million-mile view. Managing Editor: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC). Video: Scientists combined an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth with data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe and why. The vertical line represents the last data point plotted. It happened again in the mid-2000s. In 2020, however, the annual freeze has been unusually slow. Daniel Bailey. In 2020, the Arctic minimum sea ice covered an area of 3.36 million square kilometers. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. The different shades of gray over land indicate the land elevation with the lightest gray being the highest elevation. Shown below are up-to-date satellite observations of the sea ice covers of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, along with comparisons with the historical satellite record of more than 37 years. Seasonal cycle of Northern Hemisphere sea ice extents (a) and areas (b), given as daily averages, for the years 2010 through 2020. The March 2020 Arctic sea ice extent was 14.78 million square kilometers (5.71 million square miles). Figure 4: Color-coded animation displaying the last 2 weeks of the daily sea ice concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere. Although they were abnormally large, the state of the polar ice caps in 1979 became the standard baseline in NASA’s study. In contrast, in the Antarctic the sea ice coverage has been increasing although at a lesser rate than the decreases in the Arctic. This image shows a spinning formation of ice, clouds and low-lying fog off the eastern coast of Greenland. The ice and exposed seawater absorb more solar energy and this causes more melting and more warming. Every year, the cap of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas melts during the spring and summer and grows in the fall and winter. This visualization shows the expanse of the annual minimum Arctic sea ice for each year from 1979 through 2020, with a graph overlay. NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured water mixing between Georgia's ick-colored Suwannee River and the deep blue Gulf of Mexico. Every summer, the Arctic ice cap melts to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase. Science Editor: On frosty Ellesmere Island, where Arctic Canada butts up against the northwestern edge of Greenland, two once-enormous ice caps have completely vanished, new NASA imagery shows. This image was taken during summer at the pole. In 1999, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) showed that the carbon dioxide layers have been eroded to form a variety of circular pits, arcuate scarps (arc … The south polar residual cap of Mars is composed of layered, frozen carbon dioxide. Science Editor: The dashed vertical line indicates the date of the latest plotted and mapped data. J. C. Comiso, C. L. Parkinson, T. Markus, D. J. Cavalieri and R. Gersten. It has been a focus of attention in recent years, largely because of a strong decrease in the Arctic sea ice cover and modeling results that indicate that global warming could be amplified in the Arctic on account of ice-albedo feedback. Sea ice is simply frozen seawater. The ice caps were in the Arctic Circle on Canada's Ellesmere Island but satellite pictures from Nasa … Arctic sea ice reaches its minimum each September. This visualization shows the expanse of the annual minimum Arctic sea ice for each year from 1979 through 2020, with a graph overlay. A new NASA study says that an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers. Figure 1: 10-year averages between 1979 and 2018 and yearly averages for 2007, 2012, and 2020 of the daily (a) ice extent and (b) ice area in the Northern Hemisphere and a listing of the extent and area of the current, historical mean, minimum, and maximum values in km2. Video: For 15 years, GRACE tracked freshwater movements around the world. The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than in the 1990s, according to the most complete analysis to date. Figure 5: 10-year averages between 1979 and 2018 and yearly averages for 2012, 2014, and 2020 of the daily (a) ice extent and (b) ice area in the Southern Hemisphere and a listing of the extent and area of the current, historical mean, minimum, and maximum values in km2. Seasonal cycle of Southern Hemisphere sea ice extents (a) and areas (b), given as daily averages, for the years 2010 through 2020. Ice caps are a type of glacier that cover less than 19,300 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) of land on Earth, according to the NSIDC. From NASA's Operation IceBridge campaign in Alaska: A high altitude view of Icy Bay, in the Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness. Figure 3. Updated data from NASA satellite instruments reveal the Earth’s polar ice caps have not receded at all since the satellite instruments began measuring the ice caps in … GREENBELT, Md. Satellite scatterometer missions make essential measurements to support weather and marine forecasting. Holly Shaftel Video: New study finds sea level rise accelerating, This animation shows the change in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO, COVID-19 Mitigation Leads to Reduced Pollution Associated with Decreased Fossil Fuel Use, Warmer Earth, greener north - Climate 365 graphic. Nasa released a video demonstrating the fluctuations in polar ice caps in the Arctic Sea from 1984 to 2016. This is a false-color composite image made using infrared, red and green wavelengths. -- A new NASA study revealed that the oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is disappearing at a faster rate than the younger and thinner ice at the edges of the Arctic Ocean’s floating ice cap. Icy areas absorb less solar energy and remain relatively cool. Greenland holds enough ice to raise global sea levels as much as 23 feet and other NASA studies have found melting is accelerating. Susan Callery A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice.. After the spring and summer melt season, the cap of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean begins to refreeze. Ice loss was also prominent in the Sea of Okho… The ice reaches its annual maximum extent sometime between February and April. 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