A new population of polar bears documented on the southeast coast of Greenland use glacier ice to survive despite limited access to sea ice. This small, genetically distinct group of polar bears could be important to the future of the species in a warming world.
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Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis
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Greenland Today
Daily surface melt images from NASA data, and scientific analysisNews
Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.88 million square kilometers (5.75 million square miles) on February 25, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2022 maximum is the tenth lowest in the 44-year satellite record.
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.
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.
Events
The Latest on Snow and Ice
May 2022 snow summary
- Snow-covered area for the western United States was 119... read more
Sea ice extent near both poles was again below average, but higher than in recent years for most... read more
April 2022 snow summary
- Snow-covered area for the western United States was 104... read more
Arctic spring melt has begun. Ice extent declined most substantially in the Bering Sea and the... read more
Daily melt extent mapping for Greenland Ice Sheet has resumed, while mapping for the... read more