Copernicus confirms record sea ice melt in Antarctica

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The climate change service of the European earth observation program Copernicus (C3S) announced on Wednesday that on February 16, and thus before the end of the summer melting period, the total size of sea ice had reached just 2.06 million square kilometers. This is even less than the previous minimum record in February last year.

C3S figures confirm information from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) that last month’s area was just 1.79 million square kilometers. Copernicus attributes the difference to “different algorithms for determining sea ice”.

It is currently summer in the southern hemisphere. Ice in Antarctica retreats each summer and forms again in winter. Since the ice is already floating in the water, it has no direct effect on sea level.

But the melting of the ice sheet causes waves to attack the Antarctic ice sheet. The glacier, a thick freshwater glacier that covers Antarctica, is under close scrutiny by scientists as it contains enough water to cause catastrophic sea level rise if it melts.

Declining ice cover is also a concern because it also contributes to accelerating global warming in the Arctic. Antarctic ice mass was “34 percent below average” during February 2023, according to Copernicus.

According to Copernicus data, February in the Southern Ocean is the eighth year in a row that sea ice cover has been below the long-term average minimum. This raises fears that the South Pole is starting to show a clear trend towards reducing its ice floes.

Unlike the Arctic, where sea ice has declined since the late 1970s, the South Pole has been relatively stable for decades despite strong annual fluctuations.

(SDA)

Source : Blick