It’s no secret that climate change has been taking a toll on the Arctic. But it’s one thing to read about it, another thing to see it in action. Above you can watch an animation narrated by NASA’s cryospheric scientist Dr. Walt Meier. Documenting changes between 1984 and 2016, the animation lets you see the Arctic sea ice shrinking. As the important perennial sea ice diminishes, the remaining ice cover “almost looks gelatinous as it pulses through the seasons.” For anyone interested, an updated version of this visualization can be downloaded in HD here.
If you’re curious what this could all lead to–well, you can also watch a harrowing video that models what would happen when all the ice melts and the seas rise some 216 feet. It isn’t pretty. The video below is based on the 2013 National Geographic story, “What the World Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted.”
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Hello, great article although a bit confusing for those who do not know the difference between sea ice and land based ice. And their influence (or lack of) on sea level rise. Please make this clearer!