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Arctic Ocean

Sea ice breaks apart as the Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica traverses the Northwest Passage through the Victoria Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in a Friday, July 21, 2017, file photo.

Sea ice plays a crucial role in cooling the planet. It’s melting at record-breaking rates.

Climate Change

According to research at the Norwegian Polar Institute, last decade’s average Arctic sea-ice levels hit their lowest in 1,000 years. And last month, sea ice reached its lowest point ever recorded in July.

sea ice

Ice is us: Alaska Natives face the demise of the Arctic ice pack

The Big Melt
James McCarthy

Tyler Environmental Prize winner James J. McCarthy has hope for the future

Global Politics
Arctic ice with ship

Thinning ice and new tankers are opening up sea routes through the Arctic

Environment
Eating a mussel

To understand climate change, look at it from a mussel’s perspective

Science
Ice scientists Ken Golden and Chris Polashenski drill a plastic tube into the Arctic ice cap north of Alaska as part of their research into melt ponds that form on the ice every spring. The ponds play a key role in the accellerated warming of the Arctic,

A scientist unlocks one of the mysteries of Arctic ice melt

Environment

On a research voyage through the Arctic ice cap, a scientist has a eureka moment, one that he hopes will help solve some of the riddles about Arctic ice melt — and what’s ahead for the rest of the planet as the climate warms up.

Sea ice melt

Melting Arctic sea ice doubles the chances of harsh winters in other parts of the world

Environment

When most people hear the term “global warming,” they naturally think of air temperature. In reality, more than 90 percent of the warming caused by greenhouse gases happens in the oceans. Much of this warming takes place in the waters in and around the Arctic Ocean, leading to increasingly rapid melting of sea ice. A new study links this melting to cold, harsh winters that are becoming more common in parts of the world.

This gaping hole in the Siberian tundra was the first of two recently discovered on Russia's far northern Yamal Peninsula. Scientists say they almost certainly appeared on the landscape only recently, and may be a result of a buildup of gas underground, l

Scientists are trying to get to the bottom of those mysterious new holes in Siberia

Environment

The discovery of two giant holes in the ground in far northern Russia is raising all kinds of speculation about their origin. No one yet knows for sure how they were formed, but a leading scientist is pointing to an ever-more usual suspect—climate change.

This gaping hole in the Siberian tundra was the first of two recently discovered on Russia's far northern Yamal Peninsula. Scientists say they almost certainly appeared on the landscape only recently, and may be a result of a buildup of gas underground, l

Scientists are trying to get to the bottom of those mysterious new holes in Siberia

Environment

The discovery of two giant holes in the ground in far northern Russia is raising all kinds of speculation about their origin. No one yet knows for sure how they were formed, but a leading scientist is pointing to an ever-more usual suspect—climate change.

Arctic ice with ship

Today’s Arctic explorers follow in the footsteps of history

Environment

Some 400 years after Captain Henry Hudson was lost navigating the treacherous waters of the Canadian Arctic, there are still those who dare to challenge the unforgiving region.Some 400 years after Captain Henry Hudson was lost navigating the treacherous waters of the Canadian Arctic, there are still those who dare to challenge the unforgiving region.