More rain than snow will fall in the Arctic and this transition will occur decades earlier than previously predicted, a new study led by the University of Manitoba (UM) reports.
NSIDC Home
Advancing knowledge of Earth's frozen regions
NSIDC manages and distributes scientific data, creates tools for data access, supports data users, performs scientific research, and educates the public about the cryosphere.

Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis
Scientific analysis of Arctic sea ice conditions plus daily images.jpg)
ELOKA
Working together to understand the changing Arctic system
Snow Today
Scientific analysis of snow conditions in the Western United States plus daily images
The NASA DAAC at NSIDC
NASA Earth science data on snow, ice, cryosphere, and climate
Visit the Cryosphere
Facts, photos and educational resources about Earth's frozen regions
Greenland Today
Daily surface melt images from NASA data, and scientific analysisNews
Mountain and polar groups at the twenty-sixth United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) are calling for more consideration of the dire global impacts that will result should governments not take greater action as the climate talks in Glasgow begin their second and final week.
Arctic sea ice has likely reached its minimum extent for the year, at 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles) on September 16, 2021, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2021 minimum is the twelfth lowest in the nearly 43-year satellite record. The last 15 years are the lowest 15 sea ice extents in the satellite record.
Each September, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder informs the public of the annual Arctic sea ice minimum extent, an indicator of how climate change is affecting the Arctic, the fastest-warming region of the globe.
Scientists at Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, the Arizona Geological Survey at the University of Arizona, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder have been awarded almost $2 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a virtual reality teaching tool called Polar Explorer.
Events
The Latest on Snow and Ice
Sea ice extent increased at a faster than average pace through November and by the end of the... read more
Two near-record melt events occurred in the 2021 melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet, in... read more
Daily melt extent mapping for the Antarctic Ice Sheet will be restarting soon, while... read more
The sea ice extent has been quickly growing, and by the end of October, ice covered most of the ... read more
The summer melt season has come to a modest end. The summer of 2021 was relatively cool compared... read more
Scientists
Research Grants
Scientific Publications
Informatics Research
NSIDC Scientific Expeditions









