There's little doubt that Arctic sea ice is shrinking, but a new study looking back to the 1850s reveals that today's ice loss is unprecedented in extent and rate. To understand what鈥檚 happening with the Arctic ice pack, scientists need access to as much data as they can get their hands on. But reliable satellite data on the frozen north extends back only to 1978 and most historical sources cover only the twentieth century.
John Walsh, Chief Scientist at the International Arctic Research Center with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, knew they could do better.听
鈥淲e knew there was useful information out there that goes back into the 1800s,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e wanted to provide some benchmarks so we could place the retreat we鈥檝e seen in Arctic sea ice in a longer context.鈥�
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