Science Source
R. Kwok and D. A. Rothrock
Geophysical Research Letters
Published date August 6, 2009
Geophysical Research Letters
Published date August 6, 2009
Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958–2008
- Places the decline of sea ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean from ICESat (2003 – 2008) in the context of estimates from 42 years of submarine records (1958 – 2000)—described by Rothrock et al. (1999, 2008)
- Finds that while the earlier 1999 work provides a longer historical record of the regional changes, the latter offers a more refined analysis, over a sizable portion of the Arctic Ocean supported by a much stronger and richer data set
- Finds the overall mean winter thickness of 3.64 m in 1980 can be compared to a 1.89 m mean during the last winter of the ICESat record— an astonishing decrease of 1.75 m in thickness
- Finds that between 1975 and 2000, the steepest rate of decrease is 0.08 m/yr in 1990 compared to a slightly higher winter/summer rate of 0.10/0.20 m/yr in the five-year ICESat record (2003 – 2008)
- Finds that prior to 1997, ice extent in the DRA was >90% during the summer minimum
- Says this can be contrasted to the gradual decrease in the early 2000s followed by an abrupt drop to <55% during the record setting minimum in 2007
- This combined analysis shows a long-term trend of sea ice thinning over submarine and ICESat records that span five decades
Related Content
Science Source
| Geophysical Research Letters
Observations reveal external driver for Arctic sea‐ice retreat
Science Source
| Nature Geoscience
Attribution of polar warming to human influence
Science Source
| Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
EEE 2015: Record Low Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Extent in March 2015
Headline

Nov 27, 2017 | CBC News
Arctic climate change being felt farther south, scientists say