The frigid top of the Earth just set yet another record for low levels of sea ice in what scientists say is a signal of an overheating world. The extent of floating ice in the Arctic hit a new low for winter: 14.42 million square kilometers. That's about 97,000 square kilometers - an area about the size of Maine - below 2015's record. Last year had a shade more than 2015, but nearly a tied record. Read more
China's 'airpocalypse' linked to Arctic sea ice loss
The air pollution that lingered over eastern China for nearly a month in 2013 has been linked to the loss of Arctic sea ice the previous autumn. A study says the haze lasted much longer because the melting ice and increased snowfall altered wind circulation patterns. If Arctic ice continues to shrink due to climate change, the scientists say similar events will likely recur. Read more
Temperatures at the North Pole could be up to 20 degrees higher than average this Christmas Eve, in what scientists say is a record-breaking heatwave. Climate scientists say these unseasonably warm weather patterns in the Arctic region are directly linked to man-made climate change. Read more
Space Laser Reveals Boom-and-Bust Cycle of Polar Ocean Plants
A new study using a NASA satellite instrument orbiting Earth has found that small, environmental changes in polar food webs significantly influence the boom-and-bust, or peak and decline, cycles of phytoplankton. These findings will supply important data for ecosystem management, commercial fisheries and our understanding of the interactions between Earth's climate and key ocean ecosystems. Read more
ESA's CryoSat satellite has found that the Arctic has one of the lowest volumes of sea ice of any November, matching record lows in 2011 and 2012. Early winter growth of ice in the Arctic has been about 10% lower than usual. Read more
Arctic sea ice loss linked to personal CO2 emissions
Three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice disappears for every tonne of carbon dioxide a person emits, wherever they are on the planet, according to new UCL research. Read more
Arctic summer sea heading towards the second lowest on record
This year the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic is heading towards being the second lowest on record. The Arctic sea ice minimum marks the day - typically in mid-September - when sea ice reaches its smallest extent at the end of the summer melt season. British Antarctic Survey sea-ice scientist, Dr Jeremy Wilkinson, provides a scientific perspective on the trend of rapidly decreasing Arctic sea ice. Read more
A project led by adventurer David Hempleman-Adams that aimed to sail the Arctic's North East and North West passages in a single season has completed its quest. The yacht Northabout left Bristol, UK, in June and traversed the North Pole in an anticlockwise direction. Read more
Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice
It came out of Siberia, swirling winds over an area that covered almost the entire Arctic basin in the normally calm late summer. It came to be known as The Great Arctic Cyclone of August 2012, and for some observers it suggested that the historic sea ice minimum may have been caused by a freak summer storm, rather than warming temperatures. Read more