According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), February 2024 was the planet’s ninth consecutive record-warm month. February’s average global temperature on land and the ocean’s surface was 2.52 degrees Fahrenheit above the century’s average of 53.8 degrees Fahrenheit — the warmest February in the 175-year NOAA planetary climate record. […]
Recent satellite data from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that Antarctic sea ice extent is far below any level ever recorded. The continent’s sea ice is an important regulator of Earth’s temperature by not only lowering the temperature of the water below, but also reflecting the sun’s rays back into the […]
A new study has found a direct link between human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and the survival of polar bear cubs. The findings could help address a former legal opinion that impacts polar bear protections. A 2008 legal opinion from the Solicitor of the Department of Interior noted that emissions did not need to be considered […]
Rapid global heating due to humans’ use of fossil fuels has contributed to an array of damaging environmental effects on the planet, including extreme weather, unprecedented ocean temperatures and a rapid decline in sea ice. Sea ice is the habitat of several animal species, including polar bears, Arctic fox, caribou and emperor penguins, who live […]
Quick Key Facts What Is Arctic Sea Ice? Sea ice forms and covers most of the Arctic Ocean during the shorter, darker winter months. How much of the ocean’s surface is covered in sea ice is an important indicator of climate change. By mid-September, after the summer melt, the area covered by Arctic sea ice […]
Even with dramatic shifts in emissions, summer sea ice in the Arctic is doomed. A new analysis has found that even greatly and swiftly reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not prevent the disappearance of sea ice in September over the coming decades. Researchers predict the first summer without Arctic sea ice will happen in the […]
Evidence from the last ice age has troubling implications for future sea level rise. The research, published in Nature Wednesday, found that ice sheets could collapse around 20 times faster than previously assumed as the climate warms. “Our research provides a warning from the past about the speeds that ice sheets are physically capable of […]
The Arctic sea ice extent for the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2023 is the fifth lowest on record. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced Wednesday that the Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent on March 6 at 5.64 million square miles. That’s 398,000 square miles below the average maximum for […]
Sea ice forms in the Arctic and Antarctic in winter and retreats in summer, but it doesn’t disappear completely — at least not yet. The floating frozen seawater has a surprisingly strong influence on weather patterns and ocean circulation in the polar regions and beyond. Rapidly shrinking Arctic sea ice has been one of the […]