The Buzz: Another Bad Year for Sea Ice

i-c65683da9ec524211d4a3053153458a3-polaricecap.jpg

In 2007, the Arctic saw its lowest levels of sea ice coverage than any year in recorded history, and trends for 2009 indicate that we may be on our way to a new record low. The low summer coverage follows a winter that saw an unprecedented disappearance of thick, multiyear ice, which is more resistant to melting and forms a platform for the freezing of new ice. The recent release of over 1,000 satellite photos of the Arctic region that the Bush administration had kept classified also reveals an alarming rate of melt; as Josh Rosenau put it on Thoughts from Kansas, "Needless to say, it's a worrying trend."

More like this