Arctic sea ice shrinking to lowest levels ever for third straight year

The Arctic is one of the areas hardest hit by climate change, researchers said.

Antarctic sea ice also shrank to its lowest levels ever after decades of moderate expansion.

NASA has been using a fleet of research aircraft over the past eight years in program called Operation IceBridge to take images of Earth's polar ice in a mission to "better understand connections between polar regions and the global climate system."

IceBridge scientists measure the annual changes in the thickness of sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets, and conduct aerial surveys of polar ice.

Arctic wildlife, such as polar bears, depend on sea ice, which also acts as the Earth’s thermostat, helping to regulate global temperatures.