Going With the Flow

NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of the Bering Strait on May 2. South is up, so Alaska is to the left and Russia to the right. (Image: NASA) As temperatures warm, sea ice is breaking up in the Arctic — and it can be quite a spectacle, especially when viewed from orbit. As the image above suggests, from the vantage of space it's possible to see giant cracks opening up in the mantle of sea ice, and big white pancakes floating away into open water. The image, captured by NASA's Terra satellite on April 2, is of the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia. South is actually up, which means Alaska is to the left and Siberia is to the right. (Look for the dissected terrain amidst the snow, clouds and ice.) The more open water toward the top of the image is the Bering Sea, and toward the ...