Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2014 Minimum Extent

Credits

• Data visualizers

  • Trent L. Schindler (USRA) [Lead]
  • Helen-Nicole Kostis (USRA)
  • Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)

• Visualizer

  • Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]

• Writer

  • Kate Ramsayer (Telophase) [Lead]

• Scientists

  • Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC)
  • Nathan T. Kurtz (NASA/GSFC)
  • Robert Gersten (SGT)
  • Walt Meier (NASA/GSFC)

• Producers

  • Joy Ng (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
  • Jefferson Beck (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Narrator

  • Joy Ng (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Project support

  • Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
  • Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
  • Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Related Pages

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    ID: 11643 Produced Video

    Shrinking Ice

    Sept. 25th, 2014
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    Arctic sea ice plays an important role in regulating Earth’s climate. The thickness and extent of the sea ice varies over the course of the year due to changes in the amount of incoming energy from the sun. Since the late 1970s, NASA has used satellites and aircraft to monitor the sea ice and create an ongoing record of its health. Observations in recent years show the sea ice is receding to alarmingly low levels during the summer melt season, the time when it reaches a yearly minimum extent. But that’s not all. According to scientists, the Arctic is also losing about 13 percent of its sea ice each decade. If the trend continues, the region could become free of ice in the summer by the end of the century. Watch the video to see the retreat of Arctic sea ice leading up to this year's minimum extent. ||

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    ID: 11653 Produced Video

    Instagram: Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2014

    Sept. 22nd, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Sea ice acts as an air conditioner for the planet, reflecting energy from the Sun. On September 17, the Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent for 2014. At 1.94 million square miles (5.02 million square kilometers), it’s the sixth lowest extent of the satellite record. With warmer temperatures and thinner, less resilient ice, the Arctic sea ice is on a downward trend. ||

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    ID: 11655 Produced Video

    NASA On Air: Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Annual Minimum (9/22/2014)

    Sept. 22nd, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    LEAD: Scientists just announced that the summer melt season has ended in the Arctic Ocean and the summer sea ice area is the 6th lowest on record. 1. This figure remains in line with the 35-year downward melting trend measured by NASA satellites.2. The Arctic Ocean is losing about 13% each decade, with individual year variations.3. NASA is currently flying a C-130 to extend the research on how the heat and moisture from ice-free open Arctic Ocean may affect extreme weather patterns over the U.S.TAG: Details on the floating Antarctic winter sea ice are due soon. || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180.00527_print.jpg (1024x576) [147.7 KB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180_searchweb.png (320x180) [95.4 KB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180_web.png (320x180) [95.4 KB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180_thm.png (80x40) [6.8 KB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_1920x1080.mov (1920x1080) [799.5 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_1280x720.mov (1280x720) [940.4 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_NBC_Today.mov (1920x1080) [145.1 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_WEA_CEN.wmv (1280x720) [9.4 MB] || ASIM_WC.avi (1280x720) [13.6 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_baron.mp4 (1920x1080) [18.0 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_prores.mov (1920x1080) [510.4 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_960x540.m4v (960x540) [45.0 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1280x720.m4v (1280x720) [72.0 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180.m4v (1920x1080) [144.3 MB] || WC_ArcticSeaIceMin-1920-MASTER_iPad_960x540.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.2 MB] ||

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    ID: 4215 Visualization

    North Polar Sea Ice Minimum, 2014

    Sept. 22nd, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Sea ice acts as an air conditioner for the planet, reflecting energy from the Sun. On September 17, the Arctic Sea ice reached its minimum extent for 2014 — at 1.94 million square miles (5.02 million square kilometers), it’s the sixth lowest extent of the satellite record. With warmer temperatures and thinner, less resilient ice, the Arctic sea ice is on a downward trend. The red line in the still image indicates the average ice extent over the 30 year period between 1981 and 2011. ||

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    ID: 4206 Visualization

    Average September Arctic Sea Ice Comparison: 1979 vs 2013

    Sept. 18th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This visualization compares the difference in the area, volume and depth of the average September Arctic sea ice between 1979, shown in blue, and 2013, shown in orange. The data from these two years has been projected onto a circle to provide for easy visual comparison without altering its area or volume. The depth is shown as a histogram that is uniform rotationally around the central axis. Each grid cell of the ground plane is 1,000 kilometers in width, or one million square kilometers per cell. The depth of the sea ice is measured in meters.This data comes from the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS). This system combines real observations of the Arctic sea ice from 1979 through the present with data of the ocean and atmosphere to produce a complete picture of the changes in Arctic Sea ice area, thickness, and volume. The sharp spike at the center of the visualization represents the very real phenomenon of thick ice ridges formed by ice dynamics. PIOMAS is more completely described here. ||

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    ID: 4131 Visualization

    Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 1979-2013 with Area Graph

    Jan. 24th, 2014
    (updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

    Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1979. Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase. The ice parameters derived from satellite ice concentration data that are most relevant to climate change studies are sea ice extent and sea ice area. This graph displays the area of the minimum sea ice coverage each year from 1979 through 2013. In 2013, the Arctic minimum sea ice covered an area of 4.704 million square kilometers. This visualization shows the expanse of the annual minimum Arctic sea ice for each year from 1979 to 2013 as derived from SSMI data. A semi-transparent graph overlay shows the area in million square kilometers for each year's minimum day. The date shown in the upper right corner indicates the current year being displayed. ||

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    ID: 4135 Visualization

    Five-Year Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2013

    Jan. 21st, 2014
    (updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

    NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record.NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which analyzes global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated report Tuesday on temperatures around the globe in 2013. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience temperatures warmer than those measured several decades ago. The average temperature in 2013 was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6 degrees Celsius), which is 1.1 °F (0.6 °C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. The average global temperature has risen about 1.4 °F (0.8 °C) since 1880, according to the new analysis. Exact rankings for individual years are sensitive to data inputs and analysis methods."Long-term trends in surface temperatures are unusual and 2013 adds to the evidence for ongoing climate change," GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said. "While one year or one season can be affected by random weather events, this analysis shows the necessity for continued, long-term monitoring."Scientists emphasize that weather patterns always will cause fluctuations in average temperatures from year to year, but the continued increases in greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere are driving a long-term rise in global temperatures. Each successive year will not necessarily be warmer than the year before, but with the current level of greenhouse gas emissions, scientists expect each successive decade to be warmer than the previous.Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat and plays a major role in controlling changes to Earth's climate. It occurs naturally and also is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Driven by increasing man-made emissions, the level of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere presently is higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, the first year in the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, was about 315 parts per million. This measurement peaked last year at more than 400 parts per million.While the world experienced relatively warm temperatures in 2013, the continental United States experienced the 42nd warmest year on record, according to GISS analysis. For some other countries, such as Australia, 2013 was the hottest year on record.The temperature analysis produced at GISS is compiled from weather data from more than 1,000 meteorological stations around the world, satellite observations of sea-surface temperature, and Antarctic research station measurements, taking into account station history and urban heat island effects. Software is used to calculate the difference between surface temperature in a given month and the average temperature for the same place from 1951 to 1980. This three-decade period functions as a baseline for the analysis. It has been 38 years since the recording of a year of cooler than average temperatures.The GISS temperature record is one of several global temperature analyses, along with those produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. These three primary records use slightly different methods, but overall, their trends show close agreement.Additional commentary on the 2013 temperature anomaly is provided by Dr. James Hansen of Columbia University at: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2014/20140121_Temperature2013.pdfThe GISTEMP analysis website is located at: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/ ||

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    ICESat Spacecraft

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    ID: 20021 Animation

    Ice Albedo - Global View

    Dec. 12th, 2003
    (updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

    This is a conceptual animation showing how polar ice reflects light from the sun. As this ice begins to melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. It is instead absorbed into the oceans and land, raising the overall temperature, and fueling further melting. ||

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