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Looking for facts and information? See About the Cryosphere.
On Thin Ice:
Expedition to a Crumbling Ice Shelf
Scientists blog from Antarctica and provide a glimpse of what it's like to do research in the field. Read their blog ...
Current Conditions
Icelights: Answers to your burning questions about ice and climate
What's hot in the news around climate and sea ice and what are scientists talking about now? Read more...
What is the Cryosphere?
When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. Read more ...
Sea ice played a pivotal role in several expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. The polar regions are among the least accessible on Earth and were some of the last areas that human beings reached. Antarctica was not even discovered until 1820, and no one set foot on that continent until 1895. Explorers arrived at the North Pole in 1909. Part of the reason these achievements took so long was that sea ice blocked the path of anyone wishing to reach the poles.
Last updated: 3 April 2020
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