--- title: Climate Change: 'National Geographic' Atlas Shows Arctic Ice Loss description: "Drastic" changes need to be made to the new edition of the "National Geographic Atlas of the World" to reflect climate change canonical: https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/ author: Melissa Hellmann article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-20T08:11:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:32:03.701Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change: 'National Geographic' Atlas Shows Arctic Ice Loss og:description: "Drastic" changes need to be made to the new edition of the "National Geographic Atlas of the World" to reflect climate change og:url: https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76f049b2f3633e3d/6986987dcd68489d9c0954fd/89173018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Polar bear (ursus maritimus) in arctic landscape og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change: 'National Geographic' Atlas Shows Arctic Ice Loss twitter:description: "Drastic" changes need to be made to the new edition of the "National Geographic Atlas of the World" to reflect climate change twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76f049b2f3633e3d/6986987dcd68489d9c0954fd/89173018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _National Geographic_ Has to Radically Redraw Parts of Its Atlas Because of Arctic Ice Loss by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 20, 2014 8:11 AM CUT  Polar bear (ursus maritimus) in arctic landscape. Polar bear (ursus maritimus) in arctic landscape.De Agostini — Getty Images by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 20, 2014 8:11 AM CUT The Arctic ice sheet has shrunk so much that _National Geographic_ is having to make what it calls [“drastic” changes to its atlas](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140609-arctic-ice-maps-atlas-tenth-edition-science?rptregcta=reg%5Ffree%5Fnp&rptregcampaign=20131016%5Frw%5Fmembership%5Fr1p%5Fintl%5Fdr%5Fw "undefined"). Geographers say the disappearing ice is “one of the most striking” changes in the history of the _National Geographic Atlas of the World_, which will release its 10th edition in September. The phenomenon was described by _National Geographic_ geographer Juan José Valdés as “the biggest visible change other than the breakup of the USSR.” Valdés and cartographer Rosemary Wardley used data from NASA’s 30-year study of layered ice to show the drastic changes caused by global warming and emphasize the vulnerability of Arctic ice to climate change. _National Geographic_ explains that as the ice thins through melting, sunlight is able to penetrate remaining ice more easily and warm up the ocean underneath, which in turn makes the ice melt even faster. Small ponds of melted water — which absorb sunlight — also collect on the surface of the ice and further contribute to the reduction. Valdés thinks that the atlas could help people see the effects of global warming in a tangible way. “Until you have a hard-copy map in your hand, the message doesn’t really hit home,” he said. \[[_NatGeo_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140609-arctic-ice-maps-atlas-tenth-edition-science?rptregcta=reg%5Ffree%5Fnp&rptregcampaign=20131016%5Frw%5Fmembership%5Fr1p%5Fintl%5Fdr%5Fw# "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/"},"headline":"National Geographic Has to Radically Redraw Parts of Its Atlas Because of Arctic Ice Loss","datePublished":"2014-06-20T08:11:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:32:03.701Z","description":"'Drastic' changes need to be made to the new National Geographic Atlas of the World to reflect the effects of climate change","url":"https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/","keywords":["Environment","global warming","arctic","National Geographic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76f049b2f3633e3d/6986987dcd68489d9c0954fd/89173018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76f049b2f3633e3d/6986987dcd68489d9c0954fd/89173018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Polar bear (ursus maritimus) in arctic landscape","caption":"Polar bear (ursus maritimus) in arctic landscape","creditText":"De Agostini — Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2903797/national-geographic-has-to-radically-redraw-parts-of-its-atlas-because-of-arctic-ice-loss/","name":"National Geographic Has to Radically Redraw Parts of Its Atlas Because of Arctic Ice Loss"}}]}] ```