A satellite illusion hid the true scale of Arctic snow loss

A satellite illusion hid the true scale of Arctic snow loss

For years, satellite data suggested that autumn snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere was actually increasing — a surprising twist in a warming world. But a new analysis reveals that this apparent growth was an illusion caused by improving satellite technology that became better at detecting thin snow over time. In reality, snow cover has been shrinking by about half a million square kilometers per decade.
What looked like growing Northern Hemisphere snow cover was actually a technological illusion caused by better satellite detection over time. Corrected data show snow is shrinking, amplifying Arctic warming by reducing the planet’s natural reflectivity. Credit: Shutterstock. For decades, assessments from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have tracked how Earth's climate is shifting and have helped shape policies aimed at slowing global warming.


Those assessments draw on extensive climate records, including annual measurements of autumn snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere collected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since the 1960s.

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