Science Source

Thinning of the Arctic sea-ice cover

Finds that a comparison of sea-ice draft data acquired on submarine cruises between 1993 and 1997 with similar data acquired between 1958 and 1976 indicates that the mean ice draft at the end of the melt season has decreased by about 1.3 m in most of the deep water portion of the Arctic Ocean, from 3.1 m in 1958–1976 to 1.8 m in the 1990s
Finds the decrease is greater in the central and eastern Arctic than in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas
Results indicated that the ice cover has continued to become thinner in some regions during the 1990s