Spatial and Temporal Variations of Arctic Sea Ice during 1992-2021

Abstract

The variation of polar sea ice is an indicator of polar environmental change, which plays an important role in the study of regional and global climate change. The arctic is a region in transition to a warmer climate and one of the most visible signs of that change is in the declining sea ice cover. Sea ice in the arctic is one of the most rapidly changing components of the global climate system. The extent of area covered by arctic sea ice is an important indicator of changes in global climate because warmer air and water temperatures are reducing the amount of sea ice present. Sea ice extent plays an important role in reflecting sunlight back into space, regulating ocean and air temperatures, circulating ocean water, maintaining animal habitats. Similarly, sea ice concentration helps to determine the number of other important climate variables. In this paper, the sea ice data from different institutes were used to analyze the spatial and temporal variation of arctic sea ice concentration (SIC) and sea ice extent (SIE) over the 30-year period 1992-2021. During this period, the results shows that these two variables were increased in the arctic during 2021 due to the decrease of temperatures particularly near Chukchi, Kara, Beaufort, East Siberian and Greenland Seas.