News & Stories
Across the globe, snow and ice play a vital role in regulating Earth’s climate and providing freshwater resources to people, plants, and animals.
As Earth’s frozen regions change rapidly, NSIDC is committed to growing its research and open access data to better understand these changes. Read about NSIDC research and its contribution to science and policy making. Check out spotlights on how to use NSIDC data, tools, and resources. Learn about how we steward data and collaborate with scientists and organizations across the world to understand how the frozen parts of Earth affect the rest of the planet and impact society.
News and stories
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Feature Story
Mark Serreze spent the summers of 1982 and 1983 studying two ice caps near St. Patrick Bay on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. These ice caps have dramatically shrunk over the past fifty years and and are likely to soon disappear entirely.
Analysis - Sea Ice Today
Analysis - Sea Ice Today
December ended with Arctic sea ice extent tracking between one and two standard deviations below average, as it did throughout the fall. This caps a year that saw the lowest sea ice maximum in February and the fourth lowest minimum in September.
Feature Story
Researchers at NSIDC and their colleagues have developed a way to improve sea ice edge forecasts in the Arctic. The new method bumps up the accuracy of the six-hour forecast by almost 40 percent, making forecasts more reliable and navigation in the Arctic safer.