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The Arctic Sea-Iide continued its series of records for the fourth consecutive month in March, culminating as the lowest in the 47-year-old satellite file, according to a report by the EU Copernicus EU Earth Observation Agency.
The daily extent of the Arctic Sea Ice has reached its lowest annual lowest annual on March 20, 2025, covering 14.4 million square kilometers, 6% below the average 1991-2020 for the month.
Military and commercial ships, in particular Russia, intensify an activity in the region, some of which should be without ice in a decade, said Rebecca Pincus, former director of the Wilson Center Polar.
The Arctic region warms up to four times the rate of the rest of the planet, which in turn leads to long -term drops of sea ice levels. Some scientists predict that its first day without ice could occur before 2030.
To map the drop in Arctic Sea Ice, I refer to the excellent national database in the snow and ice data center (NSIDC), which hosts a plethora of polar data.
For this particular card, I acquired the formation files of the extent of sea ice for August each year in 1979.
(Nerd Note: a form of form is geographically coded data which can be read by GIS or graphic information system, software, such as QGIS and ArcGIS.)
I imported the form files in QGIS and superimposed them on an orthographic projection of the Arctic Ocean. I avoided using the azimunstal projection of the typical summit on the North Pole only for aesthetic reasons, because I wanted to show the region on a globe, not just a square culture.
I exported the card and data from sea ice to Adobe Illustrator where the final style was applied. Regular readers will know that when it comes to creating cards, I am passionate about their aesthetically beautiful appearance and to transmit clearly and unambiguous information.
The use of a dark palette for the land and the sea helps data on sea ice and the shipping route on the bottom. Subtle touches, including a glow around the coast and the edge of the globe, all help produce a visual that the reader will linger longer.
The stylish card was then charged in Adobe After Effects to animate the SE-ic layers and the individual maritime routes, on break the data at key points and adding contextual annotations.
Since American president Donald Trump took office in January, his desire to take control of Greenland increased attention to critical minerals in the region and the importance for trade and military strategy.
While sea ice in the region continues to decrease, northern sea routes through the Arctic Ocean could become economically viable for longer periods of the year.
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