The 2012 Arctic sea ice extent was nearly 50 percent smaller than the long-term (1979-2000)  average.  For sea ice to have shrunk to half its historic summer extent is as much a transformation of the environment as if half the forests of New England had been replaced by cactus.

NOAA released the 2012 installment of the annual Arctic Report Card on December 5, 2012, as part of the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting. This image collection is a gallery of highlights based on the report's major themes. It was developed by the NOAA Climate.gov team in cooperation with Arctic Report Card authors and other Arctic experts.

At the edge of southern Louisiana sits Port Fourchon—the hub through which 20 percent of our nation’s oil and gas supplies are distributed to the rest of the country. The only road leading to and from this major port is the Louisiana-1 Highway. A drive down the LA-1 through a vulnerable but vibrant coastal landscape shows what is at stake if ‘America’s longest main street’ fails to stay above water.

Port Fourchon services 90 percent of all deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Port Director Chett Chiasson tours the harbor while discussing climate adaptation and resilience.

The mayor of the last inhabited barrier island in the Gulf describes how Grand Isle's dunes are Louisiana’s first line of defense against surging storms.

David Miller of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development was one of the engineers given the task of determining how high to raise several miles of the Louisiana-1, or LA-1, highway. Climate data were essential for making sure that the roadway would last 75-100 years into the future.

Randy Osborne of LSU and NOAA's Tim Osborn explain how global positioning system (GPS) satellites measure subsidence and sea level rise.

Josh Kent of Louisiana State University gives a simple explanation of how sea level rise from climate change and sinking of the land both contribute to coastal changes.

On this tour of the remains of Leeville, Louisiana, long-time resident Windell Curole explains how storms and rising sea level have forced people to retreat inland several times in the last century.

Abundant shrimp, crabs, oysters, and access to the Gulf of Mexico make Fourchon Parish an attractive place to live and work. Windell Curole talks about his responsibilities for maintaining the levees that protect the parish from storm surge and rising seas.