Science Source
A database for depicting Arctic sea ice variations back to 1850
- Synthesizes Arctic sea ice data from a variety of historical sources into a database extending back to 1850 with monthly time-resolution
- The synthesis procedure includes interpolation to a uniform grid and an analog-based estimation of ice concentrations in areas of no data
- The consolidated database shows that there is no precedent as far back as 1850 for the 21st century’s minimum ice extent of sea ice on the pan-Arctic scale (a regional-scale exception to this statement is the Bering Sea)
- Finds the rate of retreat since the 1990s is also unprecedented and especially large in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas
- Finds that decadal and multidecadal variations have occurred in some regions, but their magnitudes are smaller than that of the recent ice loss
- Finds that interannual variability is prominent in all regions and will pose a challenge to sea ice prediction efforts
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