![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119064704im_/http://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/styles/juicebox_small/public/icelights/files/2014/07/researchers.jpg?itok=pQKN4LN5)
Is the Arctic Ocean a carbon sink?
We’ve all heard it: Arctic sea ice is melting. Sea ice is thinner year to year and there is less of it. In 2007, scientists observed a nearly 50 percent loss of summer ice as compared to 1980. With such a dramatic shift, what else is taking place in the Arctic Ocean?
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119064704im_/http://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/styles/thumbnail/public/icelights/files/2014/06/core_sample.jpeg?itok=Pi50g94y)
What is under Greenland’s ice?
We have been watching surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (see Greenland Ice Sheet Today) as one sign of climate change.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119064704im_/http://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/styles/thumbnail/public/icelights/files/2014/04/McMurdo_Scambos.jpg?itok=UXTKYuo8)
What about that hole in the sea ice?
There’s been discussion about a big opening in sea ice, called a polynya, and if it had anything to do with the Russian expedition ship, Akademik Shokalskiy, getting stuck near the Antarctic coast. The answer is not so straightforward.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119064704im_/http://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/styles/thumbnail/public/icelights/files/2014/02/Forster_dripping_drill-copy.jpg?itok=rCfVn9bL)
Can liquid water persist within an ice sheet?
Scientists have discovered a large aquifer, the size of Ireland, near the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet.