Arctic

The shrinking Arctic ice protects us all. It’s time to act

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, in the midst of their ICESCAPE mission, retrieves supplies for some mid-mission fixes dropped by parachute from a C-130 in the Arctic Ocean in this July 12, 2011 NASA handout photo obtained by Reuters June 11, 2011. Scientists punched through the sea ice to find waters richer in phytoplankton than any other region on earth. Phytoplankton, the base component of the marine food chain, were thought to grow in the Arctic Ocean only after sea ice had retreated for the summer. Scientists now think that the thinning Arctic ice is allowing sunlight to reach the waters under the sea ice, catalyzing the plant blooms where they had never been observed. REUTERS/Kathryn Hansen/NASA

The Arctic summer ice is shrinking each year. If it goes, the effects on our climate will be catastrophic Image: REUTERS/Kathryn Hansen/NASA

Julienne Stroeve
Professor of Polar Observation & Modelling, University College London, and Canada C-150 Chair, University of Manitoba, Canada
Gail Whiteman
Professor of Sustainability, University of Exeter Business School, University of Exeter
Jeremy Wilkinson
Sea Ice Physicist, British Antarctic Survey
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Arctic

The scale of Arctic ice loss is at crisis point
The scale of Arctic ice loss is at crisis point Image: Arctic Basecamp
Which countries' populations are responsible for the most summer sea ice loss?
Which countries' populations are responsible for the most summer sea ice loss? Image: Stroeve & Notz (2018)
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ArcticClimate ChangeOceanGeopolitics
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