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"One of the most striking changes that has taken place in the Arctic since the start of satellite monitoring in 1979 is the rapid decline of the perennial sea ice cover. This ice is the sea ice that survives the summer melt season, and is typically the thickest part of the sea ice cover, sometimes spanning several years. Sea ice extent has declined as the globe has warmed, but the ice cover has thinned as well. Thinner sea ice melts more easily, and as multiyear sea ice is lost, Arctic sea ice has declined more rapidly."

"A new assessment that gauges the views of leading ice sheet experts finds that scientists think global sea level rise during this century may be far more significant than previously thought, possibly eclipsing 1 meter, or 3.3 feet, by 2100. Such a sharp rise in sea level would inundate heavily populated coastal areas around the world, potentially forcing the relocation of 187 million people, the study said."

"A bay in northern Antarctica, nearest to New Zealand, the Ross Sea is home to a quarter of the world's emperor penguins, a third of all adelie penguins, all manner of seals, whales, fish and sea birds. It is, scientists like Ainley and Wilson say, the last remaining almost untouched paradise. "

Arctic sea ice extent for December 2012 remained far below average, driven by anomalously low ice conditions in the Kara, Barents, and Labrador seas. Thus far, the winter has been dominated by the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, bringing colder than average conditions to Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada.

This is an animation of sea ice volume change over the past 3 decades. It uses PIOMAS modeling data (Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System) from the University of Washington. Data is very hard to understand and visualize - these folks did a nice job making it more accessible through this animation.

"In its most recent assessment of global climate change, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded, "A strong body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems." Impacts and rates of change are greatest in the Arctic, where temperatures have been increasing at about twice the global rate over the past four decades. The rapid decline in summer sea ice cover in the past decade has outpaced scientific projections and is drawing international attention to emerging commercial development and transport opportunities previously blocked by the frozen sea. The Arctic is therefore a bellwether for how climate change may reshape geopolitics in the post-Cold War era."

"The Polar Science Center (PSC) is a unit of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington. Polar Science Center researchers observe and model the physical processes that control the nature and distribution of sea ice and polar ice sheets, the structure and movement of high-latitude oceans, and the interactions between air, sea, ice and biota. The Center has made major contributions to the understanding of how the arctic system has undergone important changes during the past four decades."

Polar Science

ICE Ice rises ICE Ice rises is a climate project studying the ice rises on the surface of the Antarctic ice shelves and along the edge of the ice. The goal is to determine if, and in that case how, these "islands" affect how fast the ice is moving toward the ocean, which in turn may influence the melting process and a potential rise in sea level.

The charismatic narwhal is the legendary 'unicorn of the sea'. It's also thought that narwhal horns used in trade or washed up on beaches gave credence to the myth of unicorns on land.

Few people think of osmosis as a way to help feed the world's hunger for energy. But an experiment under way on a coastal inlet in Norway may help draw attention to the power packed in the salty seas.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/landsat/most-accurate-map-of-antarcticas-landmass-made-from-landsat-data/213252075413939 "Antarctica may not be the world's largest landmass -- it's the fifth-largest continent -- but resting on top of that land is the world's largest ice sheet. That ice holds more than 60 percent of Earth's fresh water and carries the potential to significantly raise sea level. The continent is losing ice to the sea, and scientists want to know how much."

Wonderful resource for sea ice information. It does not 'rise to the top' in Google! Resources and accessibility for K-12 educators continually improves, so it deserves a revisit if it's been awhile since you looked. This would be a good site to start student research (upper middle & high school).

"How to take an albedo measurement of sea ice with Don Perovich. From University of Alaska Fairbanks. Part 1 of 2. "

videos and related media

"Sea Ice Core Sampling methodology in Barrow, Alaska. Part one of two. "

videos and related media

"Albedo Measurements explained on the sea ice by Don Perovich. Part 2 of 2. University of Alaska Fairbanks. "

videos and related media

"Responding to the challenge of climate change requires understanding more about climate variability and the changes expected. Jim Kinter, director of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), explains how scientists there are using supercomputers to learn more about the interactions among earth's land, air and sea."

"The Arctic experienced an extended period of warm temperatures about 3.6 million years ago - before the onset of the ice ages - at a time when the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere was not much higher than the levels being recorded today, a new study finds."