File:Summer Sea Ice in the Arctic covers just over half the area it did in 1979 (14228921522).jpg

The Third National Climate Assessment notes that the past seven years have marked the seven smallest Arctic sea ice minimums on record. Sea ice minimums are the point at which summer melting has reduced the ice cap to its smallest extent of the year.

NASA scientists pioneered the methods now used to measure sea ice from space. Beyond sea ice, NASA monitors the world’s frozen regions for indicators of change through missions such as GRACE, Operation IceBridge and ICESCAPE.

NASA will continue to study Earth’s polar regions with its ongoing missions and with the launch of the ICESat-2 satellite in 2017, which will give scientists a better understanding of how the world’s ice sheets are changing.

To learn more about the National Climate Assessment's take on melting ice, please visit: nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/melt...

To learn more about ICESat-2, visit: icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/

To learn more about Operation IceBridge, visit: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/

To learn more about the GRACE mission, visit: grace.jpl.nasa.gov/

To learn more about ICESCAPE's discovery, visit: www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/ocean-bloom.html

To learn more about other NASA missions that contribute to understanding climate change, visit: climate.nasa.gov

To learn more about NASA’s Earth science activity in 2014, visit: www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

1. earthrightnow #actonclimate