--- title: Climate Change: How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt description: New research published in the journal Science gives a sense of how much damage an individual's everyday actions cause to the climate canonical: https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-04T17:45:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:38:20.386Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt Each Year og:description: New research helps illustrate your contribution to climate change og:url: https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt Each Year twitter:description: New research helps illustrate your contribution to climate change twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt Each Year > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8d919686-3d62-47b7-840e-7759fb32038f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2016 5:45 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2016 5:45 PM UTC Study after study has shown how human activity, from [driving](http://time.com/4389576/fourth-of-july-gas-prices-driving/?iid=sr-link1) a gasoline-powered vehicle to [running air conditioners](http://time.com/4421908/climate-change-hfcs-air-conditioning/?iid=sr-link1), has contributed to man-made climate change. But understanding exactly how much damage your personal lifestyle is doing can be difficult. Now, new [research](http://science.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aag2345) published in the journal _Science_ gives a sense of how much damage an individual’s everyday actions cause. One metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions results in three square meters of Arctic sea ice melt, researchers found. The average American emits about 16 metric tons of the pollutant annually, according to World Bank [data](http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC). That means the average American melts nearly 50 square meters each year. Put in other terms, melting three square meters of Arctic ice would result from driving 2,397 miles, consuming two months of electricity in the average American home or using 2.3 barrels of oil, according to EPA [data](https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator). Researchers behind the study found a linear relationship between sea ice levels in the Arctic in September—the lowest point of the year—and total carbon dioxide emissions in the past three decades. Without action to slow carbon dioxide emissions, ice could disappear entirely from the Arctic in warm summer months in a matter of decades. Sea ice [reached](http://time.com/4496074/arctic-sea-ice-levels/?iid=sr-link3) the second-lowest point on record this fall. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/"},"headline":"Here's How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt Each Year","datePublished":"2016-11-04T17:45:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:38:20.386Z","description":"New research helps illustrate your contribution to climate change","url":"https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4558782/arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change/","name":"Here's How Much Arctic Sea Ice You Melt Each Year"}}]}] ```