Arctic ice melts - 23rd October 2020

More Arctic ice has melted this year than usual. The area of ice is now the second smallest it has ever been.

Researchers use satellite images to study the ice. This year, the ice covered just 3.74 million square kilometres. This is much smaller than when the research began 42 years ago.

The Arctic ice sheet gets smaller every summer, then regrows in winter. But world temperatures are rising. This means less ice is forming again in winter.

Ice works as a mirror for the sun’s energy. With less ice, the sun heats the ocean. This makes climate change worse.

Humans cause global warming. This creates high temperatures in Siberia and forest fires in the Arctic. These problems make the ice melt faster.

Temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than the rest of the planet. All the ice could disappear by 2035.