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The Arctic has lost a huge volume of sea ice in just a few years

Much of the loss is due to thinning of ice that lasts through the summer.
The edge of sea ice floating and drifting in the Arctic Ocean.

Satellite records show that saltwater ice on the Arctic Ocean (above) has dwindled rapidly in the span of a few years. Credit: Kathryn Hansen/NASA

The Arctic’s sea ice lost around 12.5% of its volume between 2018 and 2021, mostly because the ‘multiyear’ ice that persists through the summer melt is thinning1.

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Nature 603, 553 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00741-z

References

  1. Kacimi, S. & Kwok, R. Geo. Res. Lett. 49, e2021GL097448 (2022).

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