Never since measurements began in 1979 has the summer sea ice around Antarctica melted as much as it is now. In February only around two million square kilometers of sea are covered by ice - a new negative record. And that's for the second year in a row.
The extent of sea ice in summer Antarctica has reached a new record minimum. Satellite data showed that around February 19, 2023, only an area of around two million square kilometers of the Southern Ocean was covered by sea ice, said Lars Kaleschke, sea ice expert at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven.
Eleven days earlier, at 2.2 million square kilometers, the lowest level since measurements began in 1979 had already been recorded. As expected, the decline then continued during the summer melting period. The previous minimum of February 24, 2022 (2.27 million square kilometers) has now been undercut again.
Annual sea ice coverage in Antarctica peaks in September or October and troughs in February. According to the AWI, the long-term average at maximum expansion is up to 20 million square kilometers. It usually shrinks to around 3 million square kilometers.
It is still unclear whether the negative record values in 2022 and 2023 heralded a statistically significant trend, said Kaleschke. This requires further data from the next few years. However, the development largely goes hand in hand with what scientists have calculated using climate models for the Antarctic. The Antarctic has an even stronger influence on the global climate than the Arctic, so the changes there are particularly relevant.
