Interestingly, technology exists to monitor said sea ice from space. The European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 satellite has been in development since the 1990s and was launched in 2010. This satellite carries a first of its kind radar altimeter payload which can provide surveillance of the Arctic Ocean ice cap at latitudes up to 88 degrees North.

Do you watch satellite television? Enjoy your weather situation being monitored? Have you ever used a satellite telephone? Have you ever thought about how these things are made possible?