Modeled Arctic Sea Ice Thickness from 1940 through 2060: View #2
Visualizations by
Tom Biddlecome
Released on May 30, 2000
Part of the ongoing research into polar ice trends encompasses evaluation from sophisticated computer models. At the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University, run by NASA's sibling agency, NOAA, researchers modeled a 5,000 year period to see how polar ice might behave over time depending on several different variables. This visualization shows a 120-year slice of that complete model, essentially offering a research window on to experimental processes that require longer time frames than human lifetimes. According to the model shown here, projecting a period from 1940 to 2060, there is evidence to suggest human factors have had a measurable effect on Arctic ice decreases.