Rotten ice
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Rotten ice or candle ice is a loose term for ice that is melting or structurally disintegrating due to being honeycombed by liquid water, air, or contaminants trapped between the initial growth of ice
Rotten Ice Melting on Lake Balaton
Candle ice in Canada
Arctic sea ice decline
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Sea ice in the Arctic region has declined in recent decades in area and volume due to climate change. It has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter. Global warming, caused by greenhou
Rotten ice
…that most of the ice present had become rotten ice, instead of thick, solid ice that had either been newly formed or present for multiple years. This decline in multiyear ice contradicted previous impressions that Arctic ice was recovering from climate change and "had implications for climate science and marine vessel transport…
Month-by-month chart shows how minimum ice volume usually occurs in September, and maxima usually occurring in April.
On September 2, 2012, a record lowest minimum occurred: 3,410,000 square kilometres (1,320,000 sq mi).
Global sea ice extent (area), which combines the sea ice extents in both polar regions, reached a new all-time minimum in February 2025.
The dark ocean surface reflects only 6 percent of incoming solar radiation; instead sea ice reflects 50 to 70 percent.