Our understanding of ocean‐ice‐atmosphere interactions in the Arctic on synoptic to interannual time scales is improving steadily through the use of observations from satellite remote sensing (visible, IR, and passive microwave), submarine sonar, airborne lidar, and drifting buoys. Effects on the summer ice conditions of the snow melt regime on sea ice and of synoptic‐scale circulation variability forcing variations in ice concentration are described. The characteristics of winter leads and their atmospheric associations also are discussed. The possible causes of fluctuations in ice export and their significance for North Atlantic salinity anomalies are examined. The findings are discussed within the overall context of the importance of polar ice and climate studies for analysis and detection of global climate change.