Arctic sea ice reached its second-lowest minimum extent on record on Sept. 15, 2020. This year’s extent was larger only than 2012’s extent. @NASA and @NSIDC track sea ice through the year.
go.nasa.gov/33LwmFH
Sea ice plays an important role in keeping our planet cool. Light-colored ice reflects heat from the Sun back into the atmosphere, while darker ocean water absorbs it, so warming accelerates as sea ice extent declines.
Sea ice extent grows and shrinks with the seasons, with the colder northern winter temperatures freezing sea water and the warmer summer temperatures melting it. Over the last decades, sea ice extent has been trending smaller — a direct result of warmer global temperatures.
The Arctic region is warming three times as fast as the rest of the planet, with effects beyond the ocean. This summer, areas in Siberia set records for high temperatures.
go.nasa.gov/33k8KYv
Fires in Siberia are burning more frequently and more severely, burning through peatlands. When organic materials frozen in this soil for hundreds of years burn, vast amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere.
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