Arctic Sea Ice is Melting. And That’s Bad News

As the earth warms, the Arctic continues to warm up faster than the rest of the planet. That’s causing arctic sea ice – the ice surrounding the North Pole, to melt. And that’s not good news for the planet. Sea ice is the air conditioner for the earth. This image shows how ice reflects roughly 90% of incoming sunlight. But when that ice is replaced by water, the reverse is true – water absorbs more than 90% of the incoming sunlight. That causes the water to heat up, which in turn melts more ice.

This graph shows the decrease in the average monthly arctic sea ice over the last 39 years. It’s decreasing dramatically. Bad news.