A new insight into the decline of the Arctic sea ice cover

The mechanical behavior of the Arctic sea ice cover appears to favor its rapid decline. Scientists from INSU-CNRS, Université J. Fourier and Université de Savoie, France, have analyzed the trajectories of drifting buoys anchored in the ice and found that the mean drift rate and deformation rate of Arctic sea ice has strongly increased over the last three decades. These effects, related to the mechanical properties of the cover, contribute to the faster- than-expected decline of Arctic sea ice. This work is published in the 14 may 2009 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans.

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