Cutting Into Arctic Sea Ice

Teams of scientists set up equipment on sea ice near the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy in the Chukchi Sea on July 4. Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen.

Since 1979, satellites have tracked changes to Arctic sea ice extent, showing dramatic declines. On average the ice is losing about 13 percent of its summer coverage each decade and the record low was set in 2007.
The decline raises two key questions: Why are these changes happening and what do they mean for Arctic ecosystems, particularly the ocean-dwelling plants - phytoplankton - that play an integral role in Earth's carbon cycle?
Exploring those questions since last month is the ICESCAPE mission onboard the Healy, which is studying the physics, chemistry and biology of the ocean and sea ice within a changing Arctic. On 12 days scattered throughout the five-week mission, the Healy "parked" amid an ice floe and teams of ice scientists stepped foot on the floating ice for a close up look.


http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Cutting_Into_Arctic_Sea_Ice_999.html

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