The Arctic lost an average of 34 000 square kilometres of sea ice per year
between 1978 and 1996, says Claire Parkinson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who has studied data from microwave instruments
aboard various satellites. Parkinson, who will report her findings next month in
Geophysical Research Letters, says that this represents the loss of 2.8
per cent of the ice per decade. There were regional variations, though: ice
cover increased in the Gulf of St Lawrence, while the Kara and Barents seas lost
10.5 per cent of their ice per decade.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
2
Faecal transplant makes the brains of old mice act young again
3
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
4
A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp
5
Autism may have two distinct subtypes that vary by brain activity
6
Most portable air conditioners suck – but there's an easy fix
7
We may have finally solved cosmology's chicken-or-the-egg problem
8
Sperm have been made magnetic to allow IVF inside the body
9
Cervical cancer deaths have plummeted thanks to HPV vaccine
10
The one film to watch before seeing Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day
