Winds and currents stirred up the thin sea ice, forming delicate patterns around Anticosti Island in Quebec, Canada.
Published Mar 13, 2020Image of the Day Water Unique Imagery Snow and Ice Remote Sensing
A mixture of ice types exists where frozen water meets open water.
Published Mar 11, 2015
Sea ice naturally grows and melts each year, but the process has been more extreme in recent years.
Published May 3, 2011
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 end-of-winter sea ice extent in March 2023 was the fifth lowest in the satellite record.
Published Mar 22, 2023
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
The amount of Arctic Ocean covered by ice was significantly more than the record low of 2012, but still well below the long-term average.
Published Sep 21, 2013
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 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
Taken from a low-flying airplane on March 26, 2011, these detailed photos of Arctic sea ice show the richly varied texture in the ice floe.
Published Apr 1, 2011
alert message
