Arctic ice retreats into uncharted territory

[cato2]

Contact: Sarah DeWitt
sarah.dewitt@nasa.gov
301-286-0535
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Arctic ice retreats into uncharted territory

New NASA satellite images show record loss in 2007 Arctic ice

On October 1st, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) will issue a report summarizing the 2007 Arctic sea ice season, and NASA will issue a press release on a new sea ice study by NASA/JPL researchers. NASA has created new images in support of these and other reports about the remarkable decrease in sea ice this summer. Still images and video are available now for download in high-definition broadcast quality.
Arctic Sea Ice Minimum, 1979-2007

SVS Animation 3464 - Sea Ice Yearly Minimum 1979-2007
A closer look at Arctic sea ice from space in high resolution
SVS Animation 3456 - 2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Alaska in Foreground
Ice albedo feedback animation
Conceptual Image Lab Animation 10021 - Ice Albedo - Global View
The most recent satellite images of the Northwest Passage
MODIS Rapid Response System - Gallery

###

Sea Ice Yearly Minimum 1979-2007
In 2007, Arctic summer sea ice reached its lowest extent on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. At the end of each summer, the sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent and what is left is what is called the perennial ice cover which consists mainly of thick multi-year ice floes. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. Such a dramatic loss has implications for ecology, climate and industry as new shipping lanes open.This visualization shows the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2007. A graph is overlaid that shows the area in million square kilometers for each year's minimum day. The 'previous record' and the '2007' record are highlighted.


Annual Arctic sea ice minimum for 1979 to 2007
Duration: 24.0 seconds
Available formats:
1280x720 (30 fps) MPEG-4 7 MB
640x360 (30 fps) MPEG-4 2 MB
512x288 (30 fps) MPEG-1 3 MB
1280x720 (30 fps) MPEG-2 12 MB
1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (Composite)
1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (Dates overlay)
1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (Graph overlay)
1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (Ice)
320 x 180 PNG 212 KB
160 x 80 PNG 55 KB
80 x 40 PNG 15 KB
How to play our movies


Overlay still: Minimum Arctice sea ice area trend from 1979 to 2007

Available formats:
1280 x 720 TIFF 47 KB
320 x 180 PNG 6 KB


Overlay still: average Arctic aea ice concentration (filled) from 1979 to 2007

Available formats:
1280 x 720 TIFF 161 KB
320 x 180 PNG 32 KB


Overlay still: verage Arctic aea ice concentration (outline) from 1979 to 2007

Available formats:
1280 x 720 TIFF 101 KB
320 x 180 PNG 15 KB


Print resolution still showing the 14 Sept 2007 sea ice minimum record and an overlay graph showing previous years

Available formats:
3840 x 2160 TIFF 7 MB
3840 x 2160 JPEG 538 KB
320 x 180 PNG 222 KB


Print resolution still showing the 14 Sept 2007 sea ice minimum record (without the graph)

Available formats:
3840 x 2160 JPEG 517 KB
3840 x 2160 TIFF 7 MB
320 x 180 PNG 216 KB

Animators:Greg Shirah (Lead) Cindy Starr Studio:SVS Completed:2007-09-24 Scientist: Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC) InstrumentMSP/SSMI Data Collected:1979 through 2007 Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Concentration


Please give credit for this visualization to
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Thanks to Rob Gerston (GSFC) for providing the data.
Ice Albedo - Global View
This is a conceptual animation showing how polar ice reflects light from the sun. As this ice begins to melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. It is instead absorbed into the oceans and land, raising the overall temperature, and fueling further melting.

This is the high definition version of the Ice Albedo-Global animation MPEG.

Available formats:
400 x 229 MPEG-4 4 MB
1280 x 720 Frames
320 x 180 PNG 90 KB
160 x 80 PNG 21 KB
80 x 40 PNG 5 KB
720 x 480 Frames
1280 x 720 MPEG-4 19 MB
640 x 480 MPEG-4 7 MB
1280 x 720 MPEG-4 19 MB
How to play our movies


This is a high resolution print still that illustrates the least warming condition.

Available formats:
3000 x 1688 TIFF 14 MB
320 x 180 PNG 79 KB


This is a high resolution print still that illustrates a greater warming condition.

Available formats:
3000 x 1688 TIFF 14 MB
320 x 180 PNG 82 KB


This is a high resolution print still that illustrates the greatest warming condition.

Available formats:
3000 x 1688 TIFF 14 MB
320 x 180 PNG 72 KB

Animators:Susan Twardy (Lead) Cindy Starr Studio:CI Lab Completed:2007-01-05 Scientists: Claire Parkinson (NASA/GSFC) Waleed Abdalati (NASA/GSFC) Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC) Writers: Michael Starobin (HTSI) Sarah Dewitt (NASA/GSFC) PAO Tape:G07-001HD Keywords:
SVS >> Albedo
SVS >> Byrne
DLESE >> Climatology
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> Earth Science
SVS >> Gonnelli
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Polar Ice
SVS >> Reflectivity
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Albedo
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Freeze/Thaw


Please give credit for this visualization to
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab