Template:POTD/2011-09-05
This natural-colour image shows winter sea ice melting off the eastern coastline of Canada's Baffin Island in summer (the only clouds visible here are along the right edge). Eddies along the coast have fashioned the ice into interlocking swirls, especially near Cumberland Sound (centre). Farther north, the ice is not melting as much. The sea ice retreat captured in this image appears typical of seasonal melt. Since the turn of the 21st century, however, Arctic sea ice extent has declined sharply, experiencing a series of low summertime extents and poor wintertime recoveries.Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center