Earth’s northern polar cap is disappearing at unprecedented rates. To understand why, researchers are getting up close and personal with ice.
Using satellites, scientists get a broad perspective on how the skin of sea ice atop the Arctic Ocean shrinks, on average, just a little bit more every summer. But zooming down to within a few meters of the surface brings some important little things into view. In particular, “microphysical” properties of the ice, such as how salty water percolates through it, turn out to play a surprising role in ice behavior.
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