NASA Visible Earth - Topic: <a href="/topic/614/cryosphere">Cryosphere</a>

A Tale of Two Poles

Published September 24, 2014

The 2014 arctic sea ice minimum is the sixth lowest on record, while antarctic sea ice continues to exceed the record maximum extent.

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Sea Ice Max Continues Downward Trend

Published April 4, 2013

Satellite measurements recorded the 5th lowest Arctic sea ice maximum extent on record. The top ten smallest maxima have all occurred in the past ten years.

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North Pole Sea Ice Minimum 2009

Published September 19, 2009

On September 12, 2009, sea ice reached its annual minimum extent, covering 5.10 million square kilometers (2.97 million square miles) of the Arctic Ocean. This image shows the 2009 ice extent compared to the 1979-2000 average.

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Northwest Passage, Late August 2009

Published September 3, 2009

Acquired August 27, 2009, this true-color image shows the partial opening of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Besides some ice-free and ice-clogged channels, the image also shows the varied topography of snow-free islands.

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Detailed View of Arctic Sea Ice

Published February 1, 2007

For many years, scientists have expected that climate change will be more rapid and dramatic at the poles than at lower latitudes, an expectation that has been demonstrated both with climate models and recent observations of snow and ice, surface temperatures, vegetation, and permafrost.

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