Antarctic sea ice registers record shrinking, new data shows

Antarctic sea ice continues to register a fall amid global warming. The A new report suggest that it likely shrunk to a record low last week, falling to its lowest extent in the 45 years of satellite record-keeping. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, Antarctica's sea ice fell to 1.79 million square kilometres (691,000 million square miles) on February 21, exceeding the previous record low by 136,000 square kilometers (52,500 square miles) set in 2022.

However, the scientists say that this is not the final figure as the ice is expected to melt further in the season. A final figure on the sea ice melt will likely be released by early March.

What is sea ice?

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Sea ice is simply is the result of freezing seawater and floats on the ocean's surface due to its density. It basically works to keep the climate cool. However, as global temperatures rise, sea ice is also at risk of melting. Once it melts, its effectiveness in cooling the region also decreases. When sea ice melts, it exposes the thicker ice shelves covering Antarctica's ground ice sheet to waves and warmer temperatures. This increases the risk of ground ice sheet melting.

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However, melting sea ice has no real impact on sea levels on its own since the ice is already in ocean water. But since it surrounds Antarctica's massive ice shelves, its melting threatens catastrophic sea level rise over centuries.

"Antarctica's response to climate change has been different from the Arctic's," said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES) told AFP.

"The downward trend in sea ice may be a signal that global warming is finally affecting the floating ice around Antarctica, but it will take several more years to be confident of it," Scambos said.

The Antarctic sea ice cycle not only thaws and freezes, but it also undergoes significant annual variations. It is very dynamic and is affected by winds, currents and fluctuation in temperature, leading to a wide variety of ice types and features. The sea ice in Antarctica has not experienced the rapid melting of the past four decades affecting the ice sheets of Greenland and the Arctic due to global warming.

But the high melt rate since 2016 points to the fact that a significant downward trend may be taking hold. Melting of the sea ice is problematic because it helps accelerate global warming.

(With inputs from agencies)

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