The retreat of Arctic sea ice: flash-back on the latest decades

The melting of the world's ice and snow, including Arctic sea ice is probably one of the most striking pictures of ongoing climate change. Arctic sea ice cover is now observed in real-time by satellite, and its changes in time are probably more visible to the general public than long term temperature or precipitation changes. However, the interpretation of the current retreat of Arctic sea ice is not straightforward. This article reviews progress in the scientific understanding of recent trends in sea ice due to recent observations and breakthroughs in sea ice modelling. (author)