In our planet’s far north, an extraordinary ocean exists. The Arctic Ocean is special in many ways but its sea ice, floating on the frigid water, holds the key to a food web and ecosystem that supports creatures from inconspicuous crustaceans to mighty polar bears. But all of this is under threat from climate change.
Every year, Arctic sea ice reaches its largest annual extent in March and shrinks back to its smallest by September. This March, it reached 14 million square kilometres — nearly half the size of Africa — before returning to less than 5 million square kilometres last month.
These might seem like very large numbers, and they are. But they’re much smaller than they used to be.
