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North Polar Sea Ice Minimum, 2014
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- Visualizations by:
- Trent L. Schindler
- View full credits
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.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animator
- Trent L. Schindler (USRA) [Lead]
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Visualizer
- Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientists
- Nathan T. Kurtz (NASA/GSFC)
- Walt Meier (NASA/GSFC)
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Producer
- Joy Ng (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Project support
- Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Datasets used in this visualization
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Terra and Aqua BMNG (Blue Marble: Next Generation)
ID: 508Credit: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
This dataset can be found at: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/
See all pages that use this dataset -
SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature
ID: 796Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See all pages that use this dataset -
SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily Sea Ice Concentration
ID: 795Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See all pages that use this dataset
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Related Pages
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ID: 11643 Produced Video
Shrinking Ice
Read moreArctic 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: 11654 Produced Video
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2014 Minimum Extent
Read moreSea 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.Here is the YouTube video. ||
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ID: 4684 Visualization
AMSR2 2018 Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Read moreAnimation of Maximum to Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent, 2018, with 30-Year Average || sea_ice_min_2018.01599_print.jpg (1024x576) [126.0 KB] || sea_ice_min_2018.01599_searchweb.png (320x180) [84.9 KB] || sea_ice_min_2018.01599_web.png (320x180) [84.9 KB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/sea_ice_exent_w_avg/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || sea_ice_min_2018_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [30.8 MB] || sea_ice_min_2018_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [6.3 MB] ||
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ID: 4355 Visualization
AMSR2 2015 Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Read moreIn this animation, the Earth rotates slowly as the Arctic sea ice advances over time from February 25, 2015 to September 11, 2015, when the sea ice reached its annual minimum extent. || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate.1189_print.jpg (1024x576) [149.2 KB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate.1189_searchweb.png (320x180) [94.8 KB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate.1189_thm.png (80x40) [6.7 KB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate_p30_1080p.mp4 (1920x1080) [13.6 MB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate_p30_720p.mp4 (1280x720) [7.3 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_60p/composite/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate_p30_1080p.webm (1920x1080) [2.3 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/composite/ (1920x1080) [64.0 KB] || AMSR2_seaIce_2015_wDate_p30_360p.mp4 (640x360) [2.6 MB] ||
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