NOAA@NSIDC

In 1996, NSIDC received ninety-nine canisters of ungainly film rolls. Each stored hundreds of photographs, most of sea ice, but also glaciers, land, snow cover, and coastlines dating as far back as 1962. The photographs, part of the U.S. Navy-initiated Project Birdseye, offered never before seen images of the Arctic.

NSIDC scientists recently recorded the lowest temperatures on Earth at a desolate and remote ice plateau in East Antarctica, trumping a record set in 1983 and uncovering a new puzzle about the ice-covered continent.

Photographer and glaciologist Austin Post (1922-2012) sometimes lugged his large-format camera weighing more than 60 pounds up mountain trails to photograph glaciers.

The rising interest in Arctic sea ice is the inverse of its decline: less ice equates to more demand for reliable data on sea ice conditions. But with decades of data from multiple satellite sensors and multiple research groups, where do researchers turn for the most reliable long-term view? In answer, NSIDC has produced a Climate Data Record for sea ice concentration, an important indicator of sea ice health and Arctic climate.

Stringing around the Arctic for tens of thousands of miles, the edges of the sea ice pack are a maker of seasons and ecosystems. As seasons and climate and local weather change, so does the position of the ice edge.

With few exceptions, glaciers around the world have retreated over the last century. Some ice caps, glaciers, and shelves have disappeared altogether. Many more are retreating so rapidly that they may vanish within decades.