Satellite shows significant decline of Arctic ice volume in autumn

BBC : The European Space Agency’s Cryosat satellite has collected two years of data on Arctic ice thickness that show a significant decline from previous data. The satellite uses radar to measure the difference in height between the top of the ice and the surface of the water. Scientists then calculate the ice’s total volume. Katharine Giles of University College London and her team compared the data they collected from 2010 to 2012 with similar data collected by NASA’s Icesat from 2003 to 2008. They found that the total volume of ice during the autumn months had decreased by one-third from the previous measurements. The decline during winter months was only 9%, but that was mostly because of the increased area of ice coverage, not an increase in ice thickness. Giles and her team determined that the sea ice north of Greenland and in the Canadian archipelago had lost a significant volume, despite not shrinking much in area. Their findings match well with simulations and independent collections of similar data.