Artic sea ice coverage, 1980
Artic sea ice coverage, 1980. Map showing the changes in Arctic sea ice coverage from 1st November 1979 to 31st January 1980. Multi-year ice is shown in bright white, while average sea ice cover is shown in light blue to milky white. This study found that perennial ice extent has been shrinking at a rate of -12.2 per cent per decade, while its area is declining at a rate of -13.5 per cent per decade. These numbers indicate that multiyear ice is declining faster than the perennial ice that surrounds it. Image compiled using data from passive microwave sensors on NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite and by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).