Winter sea ice loss may be underestimated, ancient clues from a warmer Arctic suggest

October 12, 2026 · 4:00 am 4 sources

Image: NASA

Coverage

Wires & papers of record

• Antarctic Sea Ice Grows to Its 2026 Maximum
  NASA · October 12, 2026 04:00
  The ice reached its third-lowest maximum extent since satellite observations began.
• Aboard an icebreaker, a writer got a closer look at the Arctic's 'Sea Change'
  NPR · October 14, 2026 19:42
  As polar ice melts in the Arctic, shipping lanes are opening up, making the region a new zone of superpower competition. Writer Rana Foroohar explains the stakes in Sea Change.

More coverage

• 'Atmospheric rivers' helped open a Portugal-sized hole in Antarctica's winter sea ice
  Phys.org · October 13, 2026 17:40
  Polynyas are patches of open water surrounded by sea ice, where heat and moisture can pass freely between the ocean and atmosphere. In August 2024, a vast polynya opened up in Breid Bay, off the coast of East Antarctica, in the depths of winter. The region had stayed ice-covered at this time of…
• Winter sea ice loss may be underestimated, ancient clues from a warmer Arctic suggest
  Phys.org · October 16, 2026 09:00
  Future Arctic winter sea ice is likely to shrink by around 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles) more than previously thought, after researchers used clues from a warm period 6,000 years ago to improve the reliability of climate models.