The Arctic is warming 4 times faster than the rest of the world, and since 1979, sea ice extent has decreased by 40% and 95% of the world’s thickest and oldest ice has been lost.
While ice melt may seem like an abstract problem, its impacts are staggering. Sea level rise drives severe flood events and coastal erosion, threatening the nearly 40% of Americans who live in coastal areas. The loss of sea ice also has negative implications for shellfish production and species that rely on ice cover, bringing harm to marine ecosystems and the communities and economies that rely on them.