In brief: The second lowest year for sea ice
Researchers are concerned about Arctic sea ice.
Image: NASA.
The sea ice level, monitored by satellite and reported by the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, reaches its lowest level each year in September. This year, the university found 1.6 million square miles of ice after the long summer, tying it with ice levels in 2007 as the second-lowest yearly minimum on record, a NASA news release said. The lowest Arctic sea ice on record occurred in 2012, when there were 1.39 million square miles of ice in September, NASA reported.
During the fall and winter months, sea ice returns. But in recent years researchers have watched the ice steadily decline. Examining 37 years of monthly sea ice extents, “there hasn’t been a record high in Arctic sea ice since 1986. During that same time period, there have been 75 new record lows,” the NASA news release pointed out.
Sea ice affects global climate by reflecting sunlight back into space, according to the University of Colorado, Boulder “If gradually warming temperatures melt sea ice over time, fewer bright surfaces are available to reflect sunlight back into space, more solar energy is absorbed at the surface, and temperatures rise further,” the university's website explains.
CATALOG OF STARS: The European Space Agency has released a detailed map of a billion stars.
Using data from space agency’s Gaia satellite, the map offers the “precise position" of 1.14 billion stars. The map also features distances and motions of 2 million stars, a space agency news release said.
The Gaia satellite became operational in 2014.
Related:
Scientists warn: Sea level rise a matter of time
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