News & Stories
As Earth’s frozen regions change rapidly, NSIDC is committed to growing its research and open access data to better understand these changes. Read about NSIDC research and its contribution to science and policy making. Check out spotlights on how to use NSIDC data, tools, and resources. Learn about how we steward data and collaborate with scientists and organizations across the world to understand how the frozen parts of Earth affect the rest of the planet and impact society.
News and stories
Ice shelves are thick slabs of ice that cling to cold-region coastlines. Although some ice shelves form through the accumulation of sea ice, the world’s largest ice shelves are fed by glaciers.
An ice shelf is a slab of ice, often hundreds of meters thick, that is attached to a coastline and extends over the adjacent ocean waters. Massive ice shelves hug the perimeter of Antarctica.
Sea ice loss during the first half of August stalled, though ice in the Beaufort Sea is finally starting to weaken. The Northern Sea Route appears closed off in 2021, despite being open each summer since 2008.
The rate of Arctic sea ice loss was somewhat slow through much of July, lowering prospects for a new record low minimum extent in September.