In 1984, there were 1.86 million square kilometers of old ice spread across the Arctic at its yearly minimum extent. In September 2016, there were only 110,000 square kilometers of old ice left.
Published Nov 4, 2016
Thick ice that used to last through multiple summers has been in steep decline for three decades.
Published Mar 1, 2012
This pair of maps shows how the sea ice covering the Arctic at winter maximum in 2009 is younger than it was in the past.
Published Apr 10, 2009
In September 2011, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record.
Published Oct 5, 2011
Thin sea ice swirled along the east coast of Greenland in October 2012, against a backdrop of overall thinning sea ice.
Published Oct 27, 2012
The ice cap tied for the sixth lowest extent on record, continuing a long-term decline.
Published Sep 28, 2018Image of the Day Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
Arctic sea ice has been retreating the fastest in the Beaufort Sea.
Published Oct 18, 2017
The structure that prevents sea ice from exiting the Arctic Ocean through the Nares Strait crumbled months earlier than usual.
Published Jun 26, 2019
NASA aircraft return to the Arctic to assess the health of the region’s ice.
Published May 3, 2012
On August 26, 2012, Arctic sea ice broke all previous records weeks ahead of the end of melt season.
Published Aug 28, 2012
Ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk and Barents Sea are below normal, while other areas are closer to the average. But the overall trend of shrinking sea ice continues.
Published Apr 10, 2014
A mixture of ice types exists where frozen water meets open water.
Published Mar 11, 2015
These images show overall Arctic sea ice extent on September 19, 2010 (the date of the 2010 minimum), and sea ice growth in mid-September 2010.
Published Oct 6, 2010
In the Arctic, sea ice extent fluctuates with the seasons. It reaches its peak extent in March, near the end of Northern Hemisphere winter, and its minimum extent in September, at the end of the summer thaw. In September 2007, Arctic sea ice extent was the smallest area on record since satellites began collecting measurements about 30 years ago.
Published Mar 25, 2008
The long-term trend for Arctic sea ice extent has been definitively downward.
Published Sep 23, 2019Image of the Day Heat Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
The 2014 arctic sea ice minimum is the sixth lowest on record, while antarctic sea ice continues to exceed the record maximum extent.
Published Sep 24, 2014
A new NASA analysis has quantified for the first time the amount of “multi-year” ice that is being lost from the Arctic Ocean due to melting as opposed to export.
Published Nov 10, 2010
