Arctic sea ice

Interview with Vishnu Nandan, polar researcher and lead author of a study report that suggests that Arctic sea ice is melting faster than previously estimated by satellite data.

Vishnu Nandan.

Members of the Cryosphere Climate Research Group, University of Calgary, collecting snow property measurements from Arctic sea ice. Their research vessel, R/V Lance, a Norwegian icebreaker, is anchored alongside on thin Arctic ice.

R/V Lance, a Norwegian ice breaker anchored on a piece of thin Arctic sea ice, with INTPART researchers from the U.S., Canada and Norway conducting field measurements. The photo was captured from an airborne drone.

A male polar bear with the carcass of a white-beaked dolphin that it has partially covered with snow for safekeeping, at Raudfjorden on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Walruses rest on an ice floe in the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic. Fast-melting Arctic sea ice appears to be pushing walruses to haul themselves out onto land. This picture was taken on July 9, 2011.

An Arctic seal resting on snow-covered Arctic first-year sea ice located 40 km from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic (69° North). This picture was captured on May 16, 2016.

Arctic seal hunting by a Greenlandic Inuit.

An Inuit hunter coils his net after pulling in a beluga whale at Cape Nome near Nome, Alaska.

An Inuit family enjoying a dinner of crabs in their igloo on the Arctic ice. An undated photograph.

Narwhal whale hunting by the Inuit. The picture was captured near Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic (72° North).

Town centre of Nuuk, Greenland, with Blok P, the largest apartment building in town (and in all of Greenland).

Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) over the city of Tromso, Norwegian Arctic (69° North) on September 8, 2017.

Oil spill on ice after the Icelandic container ship M/S Godafoss ran aground in the Norwegian Arctic in February 2011. The ship was carrying approximately 800 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and approximately 440 containers on board.

The Ob River tanker loaded with liquified natural gas sailing in an undisclosed location in the Arctic.

A cargo container ship ploughing through thin Arctic sea ice. As shipping trade routes increase in the Arctic region, so do the prospects of oil spills and noise pollution, further affecting the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

Skidoos, or snow scooters, parked on Arctic sea ice. They are used for travelling across sea ice and for transporting equipment from research stations to field sites.

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The pristine icy cold desert at Dease Strait, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic (69° North). This photo was taken on April 2, 2017.