What is summertime sea ice extent?

Sea ice extent is a measurement of the area of ocean where there is at least some sea ice. Usually, scientists define a threshold of minimum concentration to mark the ice edge; the most common cutoff is at 15 percent. Scientists use the 15 percent cutoff because it provides the most consistent agreement between satellite and ground observations.

What is the Albedo Effect?

Bright surfaces reflect the sun’s energy away from the Earth, but dark surfaces absorb it. When white ice and snow melt, they expose the darker land and water beneath. The exposed areas then absorb energy that would have been reflected, causing additional warming and melting.

Who or what is most responsible for the loss of Arctic ice?

Human-made greenhouse gases are responsible.

In what way does the melting Arctic begin in your own backyard?

Mitigating climate change by cutting net greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to get to the root cause of Arctic breakdown, and halt the cascade of risk it sets off for the rest of the world.

(Reference Notz and Stroeve (2016) and Stroeve and Notz (2018))

Reach out to your local government representative (municipal, provincial, or federal) about the GHG-emitting asset in their vicinity.

Find out more at globalclimaterisks.org