The Barents Sea is tied to low Arctic sea ice – NASA Science

To the south of the thin, broken sea ice near Franz Josef Land lies the dark open sea, and a thin layer of cloud covers parts of the landscape.

At the top of the Earth, the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice cap expands and contracts with the seasons, typically reaching its largest annual extent in March. In 2026, this peak occurred on March 15 and reached an area of ​​14.29 million square kilometers, coinciding with the lowest maximum observed since satellite monitoring began in 1979. … Read more