National Geographic: Arctic ice is getting thinner by the day—and sea life is suffering

As The National Geographic reports:

Today’s Arctic sea ice is more likely to resemble a snow-covered parking lot than the chaotic ice blocks Nansen saw. Two years of tanking summer sea ice—in 2005 and 2007—exposed the dark ocean surface to more heat from the sun, further reducing sea ice and increasing heat in an ongoing cycle, says co-author Laura de Steur. The new study’s findings are consistent with satellite observations and other research, says Julienne Stroeve, a sea ice remote sensing expert with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Manitoba.