Animation shows daily Arctic sea ice extents for 2007, 2012, 2020, and 2021. The decadal averages are also included for the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Plot updated through 12/27/2021.
Latest Arctic sea ice extent (JAXA AMSR2) updated through 12/27/2021.
Current year’s sea ice extent (NSIDC, DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS F-18) in addition to climatology (yellow, 1981-2010) and 2 standard deviations from the mean (updated 12/27/2021)
Arctic sea ice extent anomalies for each year from 1979 to 2021 (satellite-era; NSIDC, DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS). Anomalies are calculated using a 5-day running mean from a climatological baseline of 1981-2010. 2020 is highlighted with a yellow line. 2021 is shown using a red line (updated 12/27/2021).
Arctic sea ice extent anomalies stretching from January 1979 to present day (satellite-era; NSIDC, DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS). Anomalies are calculated using a 5-day running mean from a climatological baseline of 1981-2010 (updated 12/27/2021).
Annual sea ice extent over the Arctic Ocean Basin (Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberia, Laptev, and Central Arctic Seas) for 2021 (red line) and throughout the satellite era (purple [1979] to white [2020] lines). Plot updated 12/27/2021 using NSIDC Sea Ice Index v3 (DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS F-18).
Current regional Arctic sea ice extents (NSIDC Sea Ice Index v3 : DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS F-18) in addition to 2 standard deviations from the 1981-2010 mean (updated 12/27/2021).
Change in Arctic sea ice extent over the last 5 day for each marginal sea (NSIDC Sea Ice Index v3 : DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS F-18) (updated 12/27/2021).
A look at the cumulative change in Arctic sea ice extent for December 2021 (JAXA AMSR2). Updated through 12/27/2021.
Latest change in daily Arctic sea ice extent for 2021 (JAXA AMSR2). Plot updated through 12/27/2021.
Latest daily Arctic sea ice extent (JAXA AMSR2) for 2020. Mean sea ice extents from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s are also shown by the dashed lines. Yearly minimum extents (2002-2020) are shown by the scatter points with color in reference to the magnitude. Updated 11/1/2020.
Latest daily Arctic sea ice extent (JAXA AMSR2) for 2021. Mean sea ice extents from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s are also shown by the dashed lines. Yearly maximum extents (2003-2020) are shown by the scatter points with color in reference to the magnitude. Updated 5/3/2021.
Current Arctic sea ice extents (JAXA AMSR2) from 2003-present. Color bars are blue when 2021 has dropped below the prior year. Updated through 12/27/2021.
Resources:
More real-time Arctic products are available:
References
[10] Timmermans, M.-L. and Z.M. Labe (2021). Sea surface temperature [in “Arctic Report Card 2021”], NOAA, DOI:10.25923/2y8r-0e49
[HTML][BibTeX][Code]
[Press Release]
[9] Timmermans, M.-L. and Z.M. Labe (2021). [The Arctic] Sea surface temperature [in “State of the Climate in 2020”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0086.1
[HTML][BibTeX][Code]
[Press Release]
[8] Peings, Y., Z.M. Labe, and G. Magnusdottir (2021), Are 100 ensemble members enough to capture the remote atmospheric response to +2°C Arctic sea ice loss? Journal of Climate, DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0613.1
[HTML][BibTeX][Code]
[Plain Language Summary][CLIVAR Research Highlight]
[7] Timmermans, M.-L. and Z.M. Labe (2020). Sea surface temperature [in “Arctic Report Card 2020”], NOAA, DOI:10.25923/v0fs-m920
[HTML][BibTeX][Code]
[Press Release]
[6] Timmermans, M.-L., Z.M. Labe, and C. Ladd (2020). [The Arctic] Sea surface temperature [in “State of the Climate in 2019”], Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0086.1
[HTML][BibTeX][Code]
[Press Release]
[5] Labe, Z.M., Y. Peings, and G. Magnusdottir (2020). Warm Arctic, cold Siberia pattern: role of full Arctic amplification versus sea ice loss alone, Geophysical Research Letters, DOI:10.1029/2020GL088583
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[Plain Language Summary][CBS News][Science Magazine][The Washington Post]
[4] Thoman, R.L., U. Bhatt, P. Bieniek, B. Brettschneider, M. Brubaker, S. Danielson, Z.M. Labe, R. Lader, W. Meier, G. Sheffield, and J. Walsh (2019): The record low Bering Sea ice extent in 2018: Context, impacts and an assessment of the role of anthropogenic climate change [in “Explaining Extreme Events of 2018 from a Climate Perspective”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0175.1
[HTML][PDF][BibTeX][Code]
[Press Release]
[3] Labe, Z.M., Y. Peings, and G. Magnusdottir (2019). The effect of QBO phase on the atmospheric response to projected Arctic sea ice loss in early winter, Geophysical Research Letters, DOI:10.1029/2019GL083095
[HTML][BibTeX]
[Plain Language Summary]
[2] Labe, Z.M., Y. Peings, and G. Magnusdottir (2018), Contributions of ice thickness to the atmospheric response from projected Arctic sea ice loss, Geophysical Research Letters, DOI:10.1029/2018GL078158
[HTML][BibTeX]
[Plain Language Summary][Arctic Today]
[1] Labe, Z.M., G. Magnusdottir, and H.S. Stern (2018), Variability of Arctic sea ice thickness using PIOMAS and the CESM Large Ensemble, Journal of Climate, DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0436.1
[HTML][PDF][BibTeX]
[Plain Language Summary]
All of the Python 3.7 code used to generate these figures are available from my GitHub account. Most scripts use data sets that are generated via ftp retrieval.
*These figures may be freely distributed (with credit).