Arctic Ice Volume, Thickness Now At Record Low Levels, Study Shows

The volume of ice covering the Arctic Ocean is now at record low levels, as thicker, multi-year ice that has blanketed the sea is rapidly melting and being flushed out of the Arctic basin, according to a new study. Analyzing satellite imagery from 1979 to 2008, scientists from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado produced dramatic evidence showing that thicker sea ice — which a quarter-century ago covered 30 to 40 percent of the Arctic Ocean — now comprises less than 10 percent of the polar ice cap. As the older ice — which sometimes reaches a thickness of 10 feet or more — disappears, the sea ice covering the Arctic freezes in winter and melts the following summer, leaving record areas of the Arctic Ocean ice-free. The researchers said ice volume in the Arctic was at its lowest level since records began being kept in the 1930s and may be at its lowest point in 8,000 years. The video — based on satellite images since 1979 — shows how older, thicker ice (in red and yellow) is rapidly disappearing from the Arctic.