U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials have met face to face to discuss President Donald Trump’s ambitions to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

Troops from European countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security.

Metro Detroit will see a quick burst of light snow Friday evening, followed by a surge of Arctic air that locks in bitter cold through the weekend.

A rare event happening in the stratosphere could affect the polar vortex and cause a colder, snowier December in Michigan.

A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is happening this winter, and it might have an effect on the temperatures and snow in Michigan.

There’s something happening in the stratosphere right now that could potentially lead to more snow and colder temperatures in Michigan this winter.

The eastern two-thirds of the United States is experiencing some of the coldest weather of the autumn season.

King Frederik X of Denmark has arrived in Greenland to kick off a visit to the semiautonomous territory that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to annex because of its strategic Arctic location.

The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance says Denmark has “underinvested” in Greenland’s security and demands Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump continues to talk of taking over the Danish territory.

Greenlandic lawmakers have agreed to form a new government, banding together to resist U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to annex the Arctic island.

Arctic sea ice had its weakest winter buildup since record-keeping began 47 years ago.

U.S. President Donald Trump first suggested buying Greenland in 2019.

The polar vortex’s icy grip on much of America has Arctic Greenland seeming like a toasty vacation spot by comparison.

As Arctic air moves across the state, here's what to know about the current ice coverage on the Great Lakes.

Snow showers are expected to move in Wednesday evening and continue through the morning commute.

Wind chills tonight will reach -20 to -25, making it one of the coldest nights we have seen in years.

Wind chills are expected to drop to -20 to -25 degrees on Tuesday night.

AAA issued a statewide Arctic Air Advisory and offered tips to help keep cars working properly during these extremely cold conditions.

An “Arctic outbreak” could bring dangerously cold wind chill temperatures and even cause school closings in Metro Detroit next week.

Even if you love winter, the phrase “polar vortex” might send a shiver down your cold-loving spine.

Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of the sub-zero wind chills expected in Metro Detroit early next week.

An “Arctic outbreak” could bring dangerously cold wind chill temperatures and even close schools in Metro Detroit next week.

An “Arctic outbreak” could bring dangerously cold wind chill temperatures and even cause school closings in Metro Detroit next week.

Frigid air that normally stays trapped in the Arctic has escaped, plunging deep into the United States for an extended visit that is expected to provoke teeth-chattering but not be record-shattering.

A major winter storm began Saturday in the central U.S. and is forecast to move east over the next several days.

Meteorologists forecast a strong snow and ice storm followed by brutally cold conditions will soon smack the eastern two-thirds of the United States.

Beluga whales are called the canaries of the sea because scientists say they are some of the most vocal creatures on Earth.

A new Pentagon strategy says the U.S. must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia who are increasingly operating there, including in joint military exercises.

The United States, Canada and Finland will work together to build up their icebreaker fleets as they look to bolster their defenses in the Arctic, where Russia is increasingly active.

Fox News' Bill Hemmer went on a road trip, but it was far from a beach vacation.

The U_S_ oil industry’s top lobbying group says Biden administration rules restricting oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve are "misguided."

The White House says it is preparing additional “major sanctions” on Russia in response to opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death last week in an Arctic penal colony.

While the U.S. is shivering through bone-chilling cold, most of the rest of world is feeling unusually warm weather.

Michigan sees an influx of "weird ducks," geese and swans that migrate to the state during the winter -- here's why.

Norway is rebuilding a dilapidated reindeer fence along its border with Russia in the Arctic to stop the animals from wandering into the neighboring country.

Climate change is opening up the Arctic, and a $600 million-plus expansion will make Nome on Alaska's western coast the nation’s first deep-water Arctic port.

Norway has taken over the Arctic Council’s rotating presidency from Russia.

Arctic sea ice is in trouble.

The Arctic air that descended on the Northeast has brought dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures and wind chills to the region.

Government science teams say that 2022 didn't quite set a record for heat, but it was in the top five or six warmest on record depending on who's doing the measuring.

We have now officially made it through the last of that Arctic imprisonment, with a moderating trend starting today.  As you read my forecast below, keep in mind that our average high right now is 34 degrees (1 degree Celsius), and our average low is 23 degrees (-5 degrees Celsius).

An arctic blast has brought extreme cold, heavy snow and high winds to much of the U.S. Cold air moving down from Canada has caused temperatures to plunge dramatically.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across a guided missile cruiser from China.

President Joe Biden calls Finland and Sweden “our allies of the high north.”.

Authorities say a French woman has been injured when attacked by a polar bear in Norway’s remote Arctic Svalbard Islands.

It was quite a discovery in tropical waters to bring in a Greenland shark, which can live for more than 500 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic.

A decades-old dispute between Denmark and Canada over a tiny, barren and uninhabited rock in the Arctic has come to an end.

U.S. Army leaders say they are poised to revamp forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts.

The Pentagon's inspector general's office says U.S. military bases in the Arctic and sub-Arctic are failing to prepare their installations for future climate change as required.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is causing a swift and broad decaying of scientific ties between Moscow and the West.

Parts of Antarctica Friday hit 70 degrees warmer than normal.

Patches of light rain and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 30s this afternoon may feel somewhat balmy compared to where we’ve been most of the past six weeks, but wait, yet another Arctic air mass is perched just to our northwest and will arrive tonight. The lead edge of that bitterly cold air, the cold front, will cross the area around midnight. At that point, any rain showers left in the area will transition to a few snow showers, and our wind will shift to the west and then to the northwest.

A cold front crossed the area Wednesday afternoon, and another one will move through Thursday morning. As such, scattered snow showers are possible tonight, but don’t expect any meaningful impact. Temperatures will only drop into the low 30s (0 degrees Celsius) by dawn, with a southwest wind at 8 to 12 mph.

As expected, we had plenty of sunshine today, but it was purely cosmetic sunshine as Arctic air continued its grip on the region. We have another cold night tonight, but not quite as cold as Tuesday night since clouds will increase late at night this time.

Following Monday’s 2-5-inch snowfall, another surge of Arctic air has moved in, with wind chills generally in the single digits.

We are now firmly entrenched in the latest batch of Arctic air to cross the region, and it’s going to be a very cold night ahead.

Everything is panning out exactly as expected with the big winter storm that’s now developing to our west. The low-pressure center is now located in northwest Iowa, and it’s diving southeast toward the Gulf coast, taking the snow with it.

A snowy owl apparently touring iconic buildings of the nation’s capital is captivating birdwatchers who manage to get a glimpse of the rare, resplendent visitor from the Arctic.

Marines on snowmobiles helped Santa this month while delivering toys to boys and girls in Alaska’s Arctic.

The Arctic continues to deteriorate as global warming increases.

The U.N. weather agency has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic.

As world leaders meet in Glasgow, Scotland, to try to ramp up efforts to curb climate change, the future of polar bears looms over them.

The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the Earth and it's on the knife edge of survival.

A shipwreck 260 miles east of Boston has been identified as that of the storied Coast Guard ship U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear.

The White House is stepping up its work to figure out what to do about a rapidly thawing Arctic.

A new study details how part of the Arctic nicknamed the “Last Ice Area” suddenly melted a bit in the summer of 2020.

The Biden administration is leading a campaign against Russian attempts to assert authority over Arctic shipping lanes and reintroduce a military dimension to discussions over international activity in the area.

Top diplomats from the United States and Russia have sparred firmly but politely in Iceland in their first face-to-face encounter.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Europe and North Atlantic islands to put the Biden administration's stamp on climate change policy in the Arctic and warn Russia against interference in the United States, Ukraine and elsewhere.

A top Russian admiral has complained about increased NATO military activities near the country’s borders, describing them as a threat to regional security.

In this handout photo taken from a footage released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on March 26, 2021, A Russian nuclear submarine breaks through the Arctic ice during military drills at an unspecified location. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed the military's performance during recent Arctic drills, part of Moscow's efforts to expand its presence in the polar region. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed the military's performance during recent Arctic drills, part of Moscow's efforts to expand its presence in the polar region. Navy chief Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov reported to Putin that the exercise has featured three nuclear submarines simultaneously breaking through Arctic Ice, and warplanes flying over the North Pole. The video also showed three nuclear submarines that smashed through the Arctic ice next to one another.

If you thought the northern lights were a rare sight for us earthlings, you may want to think again. Those beautiful colors most visible in the Arctic and Antarctic are not only found on Earth: Jupiter has northern lights, too. Northern lights here on Earth result from charged particles from the sun that interact with the earth’s magnetosphere to create that glow that we see. AdPrevious missions did not really provide a good look at the Jovian aurorae, but Juno is a polar-orbiting spacecraft, so these images are our first real deep dive into the planet’s northern lights. New revelations on Jupiter, combined with those recently discovered on Mars, have made for an interesting year of space exploration so far!

Meteorologists blame the all-too-familiar polar vortex. That's the polar vortex, which spins like a whirling top at the top of the planet. AdThis particular polar vortex breakdown has been a whopper. Warming in the Arctic, with shrinking sea ice, is goosing the atmospheric wave in two places, giving it more energy when it strikes the polar vortex, making it more likely to disrupt the vortex, Cohen said. PATTERN HAS BEEN OBSERVED FOR DECADESThere were strong polar vortex disruptions and cold outbreaks like this in the 1980s, Cohen said.

DETROIT – Winter weather already has prompted some school closings in Metro Detroit. There is plenty of snow expected overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, so you can expect even more closings to be announced. From the Local 4Casters:A bigger storm heading this way from Texas will redevelop snow Monday evening, which will become heavy at times Monday night before winding down Tuesday morning. This should easily be a 6-to-8-inch snowfall, so total snow from what falls both Sunday night/Monday morning and Monday night/Tuesday morning could approach 10 inches in some areas. Weather forecast: 6-to-10 inches of snow tonight

DETROIT – Temperatures are expected to hover in the teens and single digits throughout this week in Michigan, with wind chills dipping into the negatives. AAA is issuing its own statewide Arctic air advisory and offering the following tips for drivers to help keep their vehicles ready for travel in the cold temps:Battery – Have charging system tested to ensure it’s fully charged and in good condition. Engine Coolant – Use one that provides anti-freeze protection down to the lowest temperatures you are likely to encounter; -30oF/-34oC is a good guideline. If you don’t have access to a garage, put a tarp over the hood or park in a wind-protected area. Here’s what you should do to prepare for a dead battery:Always travel with a cell phone and car charger.

Near steady temperatures in the mid-teens (-10 degrees Celsius), which is still quite cold, but not as cold as how we’re starting our Monday morning. Partly cloudy Tuesday night, with lows averaging around 5 degrees (-15 degrees Celsius), but our typically colder rural areas could easily drop to zero (-18 degrees Celsius) or below. AdWeekend outlookSaturday could start with some light snow showers, then we hopefully get a few afternoon breaks of sun. Then mostly sunny on Valentine’s Day -- should be a pretty, albeit cold, day -- perfect for snuggling with your Honey Bunny. We’ll start the day not too far from zero (-17 degrees Celsius), and skyrocket to highs in the mid-teens (-9 degrees Celsius).

It’s cloudy and frigid, tonight, with snow showers during sleeping hours. Sunday remains frigid after the snow leaves. Arctic air remains locked in place, so snow showers start to arrive and form before midnight and afterward. Overnight lows will be in the middle and upper single digits. A powdery trace and 2 (or more) inches of snow will fall by the end of breakfast, Sunday morning.

AdWeekend forecastSnow showers diminish Friday night, and it’ll be very cold, with lows in the low teens (-11 degrees Celsius). Mostly cloudy and breezy on Saturday, with highs in the upper teens (-7 degrees Celsius), with wind chills between zero and 5 above zero (-15 to -18 degrees Celsius). Lows Saturday night around 10 degrees (-12 degrees Celsius). Highs Sunday in the mid teens (-8 degrees Celsius), with wind chills during the day on Sunday around zero (-18 degrees Celsius). We’ll get briefly and slightly warmer early in the week as highs return to the low 20s (-6 degrees Celsius), but a resurgence of the Arctic air appears poised to return Wednesday and beyond.

DETROIT – Here’s what you missed on Local 4 News at Noon. Metro Detroit weather: Several inches of snow before Arctic cold, more snow this weekendWe received between 2.5 and 4 inches of snow overnight, and now we are dealing with the effects of an Arctic cold front sweeping across the area. The winter weather advisory is now set to expire at 7 p.m., and the flood warning for the St. Clair River continues until 12 p.m. as ice blockages continue to cause significant flooding in some areas.

DETROIT – Snow is headed for Metro Detroit once again. Track live radar in the video player above. Have a smart TV? Watch the weather radar on your TVIf you have a smart TV (Apple, Roku, etc. ), you can go to the WDIV Local 4 Detroit channel and stream the live weather radar right there on your TV.

We received between 2.5 and 4 inches of snow overnight, and now we are dealing with the effects of an Arctic cold front sweeping across the area. We will drop through the 20s (-4 to -5 degrees Celsius) this morning, and will hover in the upper teens (-8 degrees Celsius) this afternoon. AdWeekend forecastSnow showers diminish Friday night, and it’ll be very cold, with lows in the low teens (-11 degrees Celsius). Lows Saturday night around 10 degrees (-12 degrees Celsius). Highs Sunday in the mid teens (-8 degrees Celsius), with wind chills during the day on Sunday around zero (-18 degrees Celsius).

That wind will also keep wind chills around zero (-18 degrees Celsius) Friday afternoon. Mostly cloudy with a snow shower possible Friday night, and lows in the low teens (-11 degrees Celsius). Weekend forecastMostly cloudy and breezy on Saturday, with highs barely making it to 20 degrees (-7 degrees Celsius), and wind chills around zero (-18 degrees Celsius). AdSome light snow may develop later Saturday night, with lows not far from zero (-18 degrees Celsius). Highs in the mid-to-upper teens (-8 degrees Celsius), with wind chills between zero and -5 degrees (-18 to -21 degrees Celsius).

However, a gusty northwest wind at 10 to 20 mph will keep wind chills well down in the teens (-11 degrees Celsius). Highs in the upper 20s (-2 degrees Celsius) won’t be too hard to take if we can keep that sunshine. Highs near 30 degrees (-1 degrees Celsius). Monday storm updateI’m starting to see a bit of trending toward a more common solution in the overnight computer models, and our Monday storm now looks more like a Monday night storm. I think most of the day Monday will be dry, with perhaps some snow developing late in the day near the state line.

(AP Photo/Scott Sonner)Earth’s rising fever hit or neared record hot temperature levels in 2020, global weather groups reported Thursday. “We’re expecting it to get hotter and that’s exactly what happened.”NOAA said 2020 averaged 58.77 degrees (14.88 degrees Celsius), a few hundredths of a degree behind 2016. Japan’s weather agency put 2020 as warmer than 2016, but a separate calculation by Japanese scientists put 2020 as a close third behind 2016 and 2019. Earth has now warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times and is adding another 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 Fahrenheit) a decade. Schmidt said fewer cooling aerosols could be responsible for .09 to .18 degrees (.05 to .1 degrees Celsius) warming for the year.

The icebreaker Polarstern, carrying scientists on a year-long international effort to study the high Arctic, has returned to its home port in Germany. The RV Polarstern arrived Monday in the North Sea port of Bremerhaven. “We went above and beyond the data collection we set out to do," said Melinda Webster, a sea ice expert at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, whose work is funded by NASA. “This is an extremely exciting time to get into Arctic science because of the changes that are happening," she said. “We are watching the Arctic sea ice die,” said Rex, adding that he thinks it's possible there may be no summer sea ice in the Arctic soon.

Ice in the Arctic Ocean melted to its second lowest level on record this summer, triggered by global warming along with natural forces, U.S. scientists reported Monday. The extent of ice-covered ocean at the North Pole and extending further south to Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia reached its summertime low of 1.4 million square miles (3.7 million square kilometers) last week before starting to grow again. Arctic sea ice reaches its low point in September and its high in March after the winter. This year's melt is second only to 2012, when the ice shrank to 1.3 million square miles (3.4 million square kilometers), according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which has been keeping satellite records since 1979. In the 1980s, the ice cover was about 1 million square miles (2.7 million square kilometers) bigger than current summer levels.

The glacier is at the end of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, where it flows off land and into the ocean. The glacier is at the end of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, where it flows off the land and into the ocean. It shows that the area's ice losses for the past two years each exceeded 50 square kilometers (19 square miles). The ice shelf has lost 160 square miles (62 square miles), an area nearly twice that of Manhattan in New York, since 1999. “We should be very concerned about what appears to be progressive disintegration at the Arctic’s largest remaining ice shelf,” said GEUS professor Jason Box.

GENEVA The United Nations weather agency says this summer will go down for leaving a deep wound in the cryosphere -- the planets frozen parts -- amid a heat wave in the Arctic, shrinking sea ice and the collapse of a leading Canadian ice shelf. The weather agency said in a statement that many new temperature records have been set in recent months, including in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk. The town, located in Siberia above the Arctic Circle line, reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) on June 20. She noted a heat wave across the Arctic, r ecord-breaking wildfires in Siberia, nearly record-low sea ice extent, and the collapse of one of the last fully intact Canadian ice shelves. The WMO is preparing to release on Sept. 9 a report on the impact of climate change on the cryosphere.

The Longyearbyen camp site after a polar bear attacked the site and killed a man in Norway's remote Svalbard Islands in the Arctic, Friday Aug. 28, 2020. The polar bear was killed. (Line Nagell Ylvisaker / NTB scanpix via AP)COPENHAGEN A polar bear attacked a camping site Friday in Norway's remote Svalbard Islands, killing a 38-year-old Dutch man before being shot and killed by onlookers, authorities on the Arctic island said. This is also a strong reminder that we are in polar bear country and must take the precautions to secure ourselves, Elvedahl later said. ___A previous version of this story was corrected to show that the last fatal polar bear mauling was in 2011, not 2001.

BERLIN A German icebreaker carrying scientists on a year-long international expedition in the high Arctic has reached the North Pole, after making an unplanned detour there due to lighter-than-usual sea ice conditions. Expedition leader Markus Rex said Wednesday the RV Polarstern was able to reach the geographic North Pole because of large openings in sea ice above Greenland, where shipping would normally be too difficult. The mushy ice conditions the Polarstern encountered this year provide further evidence of the warming that scientists say is taking place in the Arctic. The MOSAiC expedition involves scientists from 17 nations, including the United States, France, Russia and China. The coronavirus pandemic almost caused the mission to be cut short, as travel restrictions made resupply and crew rotations difficult.

Much of Canada's remaining intact ice shelf has broken apart into hulking iceberg islands thanks to a hot summer and global warming, scientists said. Canada's 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf on the northwestern edge of Ellesmere Island had been the country's last intact ice shelf until the end of July when ice analyst Adrienne White of the Canadian Ice Service noticed that satellite photos showed that about 43% of it had broken off. The biggest is nearly the size of Manhattan 21 square miles (55 square kilometers) and 7 miles long (11.5 kilometers). Without a doubt, it's climate change, Copland said, noting the ice shelf is melting from both hotter air above and warmer water below. By 2005 it was down to six remaining ice shelves but the Milne was really the last complete ice shelf, she said.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Wednesday named a special envoy for the Arctic, filling a post that had been vacant for more than three years as the administration seeks a greater role in the region and tries to blunt growing Russian and Chinese influence there. Pompeo has spoken in the past about the Trump administration's determination to prevent Russia and China from playing a dominant role in the Arctic, which is heavily affected by climate change. Russia has expanded military bases in its Arctic regions, and China has sought to declare itself a near-Arctic nation despite having no territory near the area. DeHart is 28-year foreign service officer and was most recently senior adviser for security negotiations and agreements. 2 diplomat in Norway, which has extensive Arctic interests.

(Olga Burtseva via AP)Nearly impossible without man-made global warming, this years freak Siberian heat wave is producing climate changes most flagrant footprint of extreme weather, a new flash study says. International scientists released a study Wednesday that found the greenhouse effect multiplied the chance of the regions prolonged heat by at least 600 times, and maybe tens of thousands of times. World Weather Attributions past work has found some weather extremes were not triggered by climate change. This event is really worrying, said study co-author Olga Zolina, a climate scientist at the P.P. These types of studies allow people and world leaders to connect the dots between extreme weather events and climate change and prepare for them, said French climate scientist Valerie Masson-Delmotte, who wasnt part of the research.

MOSCOW Russian authorities have detained three top managers of an Arctic power plant that leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region. Together with Vyacheslav Starostin, another manager at the plant arrested and charged earlier this month, they may face up to five years in prison. Much of the spilled fuel fouled waterways in the Norilsk area and there is concern it could affect wildlife or make its way into the Arctic Ocean. Some of it has seeped into a lake, connected by a river to the Kara Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, but local authorities hope to contain it there. The power plant is operated by a division of Norilsk Nickel, whose giant plants in the area have made Norilsk, 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) northeast of Moscow, one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world.

This handout photo provided by Vasiliy Ryabinin shows oil spill outside Norilsk, 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 29, 2020. Russian authorities have charged Vyacheslav Starostin, the director of an Arctic power plant that leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region on May 29, 2020, with violating environmental regulations. (Vasiliy Ryabinin via AP)MOSCOW Some of the 20,000 tons of diesel oil that leaked from a power plant has seeped into a fragile Arctic lake, the regional governor said Tuesday. The fuel leaked when a storage tank at the power plant in Norilsk collapsed. The director of the power plant was charged Monday with violating environmental regulations.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A snowy owl found in northern Michigan last week needs to gain some weight before she can be released back into the wild. The bird was discovered on the side of a road on Drummond Island on Thursday. A snowy owl was found on Drummond Island on Dec. 5, 2019. (Drummond Island Animal Clinic)The Drummond Island Animal Clinic said snowy owls move south when Arctic weather is harsh and food supplies are diminished. Keep up with the animal clinic on Facebook for updates on the owl.

Fortunately it remains dry, but rain is the picture early this week with an Arctic blast mid-week. Families will need winter coats and hats to stay warm while going to and from morning services and activities. With the wind out of the south at 10 to 15 mph, milder air arrives. High temperatures will be above average for a change; in the middle and upper 40s. Each night time and early morning low will be in the teens with wind chills in the single digits.

In the Chukchi Sea northwest of Alaska this month, which should be brimming with floes, its limits likely wont be tested. Sea ice is creeping toward the city from the east in the Beaufort Sea, but to find sea ice in the Chukchi, the Sikuliaq would have to head northwest for about 200 miles (322 kilometers). Sea ice is also a one of the most important physical elements of the Chukchi and Bering seas. Female walruses with young use sea ice as a resting platform and follow the ice edge south as it moves into the Bering Sea. Forecasting sea ice is notoriously difficult but Thoman, the ex-weather forecaster, said he expects a less than robust year for sea ice.