The 20th annual Arctic Report Card reveals new highs in temperature and new lows in sea ice, as well as an uncertain outlook for the availability of federal data.
Arctic Ocean
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tiny Turbulent Whirls Keep the Arctic Ocean Flowing
Centimeter-sized turbulence controls the rate at which the Arctic Ocean churns.
Posted inNews
Arctic Ice Shelf Theory Challenged by Ancient Algae
Chemical signatures of marine organisms reveal that seasonal sea ice, not a massive ice shelf, persisted in the southern Arctic Ocean for 750,000 years.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Arctic Rivers Trade Inorganic Nitrogen for Organic
Climate change is shifting the makeup of a key nutrient in rivers across Russia, Alaska, and Canada, with the potential for ecosystem-wide impacts.
Posted inScience Updates
Finding Consensus on Arctic Ocean Climate History
Understanding the effects of a “blue” Arctic Ocean on future climate requires a coordinated effort to study Earth’s past warm periods using a variety of classical and cutting-edge methods.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Uncertain Fate of the Beaufort Gyre
Climate models produce widely varying predictions for what will happen to this influential ocean current, but most models predict it will weaken or stop.
Posted inNews
Arctic Hydrothermal Vents May Resemble Those on Enceladus
By studying hydrogen-rich vent sites on Earth, scientists could learn more about the hidden ocean of Saturn’s icy moon—one of our solar system’s likeliest candidates for harboring life beyond Earth.
Posted inNews
The Survival of Arctic Sea Ice May Depend on Its Travel Routes
Researchers find that the motions of ice parcels determine which ones survive the annual summer melt.
Posted inFeatures
The Arctic’s Uncertain Future
Over the next century, the Arctic will change and look much different than it does today. Just how different is still unknown.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Air-Ice-Ocean Coupling Observed in an Arctic Cyclone Event
New observations show detailed features of the ice-ocean response to a strong Arctic cyclone in the winter of 2019-2020.