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.
Music: Galore by Lee Groves [PRS], Peter George Marett [PRS]
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13089 Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katy Mersmann
2018 was the fourth hottest year on record. Earth has been warming up for decades. The last five years are the hottest five years on record and the last four were all more than 1 degree Celsius, warmer than the 19th Century average.
A warmer climate contributes to melting polar ice and mountain glaciers, rising sea levels, more severe droughts, longer fire seasons.
NASA and NOAA work together to study the temperature from weather stations, ships and buoys in the ocean, and Antarctic research stations.
Credits: Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer Ellen T. Gray (ADNET Systems Inc.): Lead Writer Patrick Lynch (NASA/GSFC): Lead Public Affairs Officer Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA/GSFC GISS): Lead Scientist
