The shell of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean is nearing its yearly low point, and projections suggest that it will be among the four lowest summer minimums on record. If melt rates are speedy enough, there’s a small chance it could even take the number two spot, forecasters said Wednesday, as the ice continues its decades-long, warming-driven

Over the last few decades, and particularly in recent years, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by a skin of sea ice has steadily shrunk. But it’s not just this extent that matters — the volume of sea ice, which takes into account its thickness, is also important, but traditionally much more difficult to measure. The 2010 launch of the European

The Fourth of July weekend wasn’t just about fireworks and cookouts, it also marked the end of a key period of summer melt in the Arctic that can determine how low sea ice goes for the year. The floating ice cap has been on a steady downward trajectory for decades, thanks to global warming, and in recent years it has hit record lows with the added