A new warning sign from the planet’s southernmost point. Antarctica’s winter sea ice has hit its third-lowest peak in nearly half a century of satellite monitoring, adding to growing concerns about the long-term impact of climate change.

Antarctic ice buffer weakening

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday (July 10) that the Antarctic sea ice levels reached record lows in June at 17 per cent below average. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, WMO said that global sea surface temperatures were at record highs for the time of the year in May and June.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday (July 10) that the Antarctic sea ice levels reached record lows in June at 17 per cent below average. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, WMO said that global sea surface temperatures were at record highs for the time of the year in May and June. It warned that the warming of the world's oceans was spreading faster beyond their surface. Addressing a press conference in Geneva on Monday, Michael Sparrow, the head of WMO's climate research division said, "This really is completely unprecedented, this kind of reduction in sea ice that we've seen around the Antarctic." "The Antarctic region is normally thought of as being relatively stable. It's much colder than the Arctic. We're used to seeing these big reductions in sea ice in the Arctic, but not in the Antarctic. It's around about five standard deviations for the mathematicians around here, below what we would expect or we have seen in the past. And this is a massive decrease," Sparrow added. 'Scientific community struggling' He said the scientific community was struggling to a certain extent to keep up. "I see a lot of things online in social media with scientists being incredibly concerned about particularly the ocean temperatures and the reduction in sea ice extent, because we have to remember that the oceans absorb more than 90 per cent of the excess heat that humans put into the atmosphere because of greenhouse gases. That's where we need to make these reductions," Sparrow told reporters. The WMO official pointed out that if the oceans were warming considerably, that would have a knock-out effect on the atmosphere, on sea ice and ice worldwide. "There's a lot of concerns from the scientific community and a lot of catch-up in the scientific community trying to understand these incredible changes we're seeing at the moment. And it's very concerning," Sparrow further told reporters. The WMO said that June was drier than average over much of North America. And as per the Copernicus Climate Change Service, June was also drier in Russia, the Horn of Africa, most of southern Africa, South America, and regions of Australia. Meanwhile, the WMO also said Arctic sea ice levels were slightly below average, but well above the June values from the past eight years. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Antarctic sea ice levels reached record lows in June, WMO says

Scientists have sounded alarm over Antarctic sea ice reaching record low levels for the third time in six years.&nbsp;The sea level witnessed a drastic drop in the month of February this year, breaking the 2022 record.

On February 25 last year, the amount of sea ice dropped to 1.92m sq km – an all-time low recorded ever since satellite observations of ice floating in the ocean around Antarctica began in 1979.

But this record was already breached by February 12 this year, and by February 25, the ice level reached a new low of 1.79m sq km, beating the previous record by 136,000 sq km – an area double the size of Tasmania, reported the Guardian.

Dr Will Hobbs, an Antarctic sea ice expert at the University of Tasmania with the Australian Antarctic Programme Partnership, told Guardian that this was happening because of a "circumpolar event" and added that less ice is being witnessed everywhere.

He said that the large areas in the west of the continent had barely recovered from the previous year’s losses.

"Because sea ice is so reflective, it’s hard to melt from sunlight. But if you get open water behind it, that can melt the ice from underneath," Hobbs added.

The scientist said that the new record has the polar scientists scrambling for answers.

Antarctica continent holds enough ice to raise sea levels by many metres if it was to melt. Though melting of sea ice doesn’t directly correspond to a rise in sea levels as it is already floating in the water, several scientists the Guardian spoke to have raised concern over the spillover effects it can have on the ecosystem.

Apparently, sea ice helps negate the effect of storms on ice attached to the coast. If it starts to disappear for longer, the increased wave action can weaken those floating ice shelves that themselves stabilise the massive ice sheets and glaciers behind them on the land.

“We don’t want to lose sea ice where there are these vulnerable ice shelves and, behind them, the ice sheets,” Prof Matt England, an oceanographer and climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, was quoted as saying.

“We are probably starting to see signs of significant warming and retreat of sea ice [in Antarctica]. To see it getting to these levels is definitely a concern because we have these potentially amplifying feedbacks.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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Scientists have sounded alarm over Antarctic sea ice reaching record low levels for the third time in six years. The sea level witnessed a drastic drop in the month of February this year, breaking the 2022 record.

Scientists have sounded alarm over Antarctic sea ice reaching record low levels for the third time in six years. The sea level witnessed a drastic drop in the month of February this year, breaking the 2022 record. On February 25 last year, the amount of sea ice dropped to 1.92m sq km – an all-time low recorded ever since satellite observations of ice floating in the ocean around Antarctica began in 1979. But this record was already breached by February 12 this year, and by February 25, the ice level reached a new low of 1.79m sq km, beating the previous record by 136,000 sq km – an area double the size of Tasmania, reported the Guardian. Dr Will Hobbs, an Antarctic sea ice expert at the University of Tasmania with the Australian Antarctic Programme Partnership, told Guardian that this was happening because of a "circumpolar event" and added that less ice is being witnessed everywhere. He said that the large areas in the west of the continent had barely recovered from the previous year’s losses. "Because sea ice is so reflective, it’s hard to melt from sunlight. But if you get open water behind it, that can melt the ice from underneath," Hobbs added. The scientist said that the new record has the polar scientists scrambling for answers. Antarctica continent holds enough ice to raise sea levels by many metres if it was to melt. Though melting of sea ice doesn’t directly correspond to a rise in sea levels as it is already floating in the water, several scientists the Guardian spoke to have raised concern over the spillover effects it can have on the ecosystem. Apparently, sea ice helps negate the effect of storms on ice attached to the coast. If it starts to disappear for longer, the increased wave action can weaken those floating ice shelves that themselves stabilise the massive ice sheets and glaciers behind them on the land. “We don’t want to lose sea ice where there are these vulnerable ice shelves and, behind them, the ice sheets,” Prof Matt England, an oceanographer and climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, was quoted as saying. “We are probably starting to see signs of significant warming and retreat of sea ice [in Antarctica]. To see it getting to these levels is definitely a concern because we have these potentially amplifying feedbacks.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Scientists alarmed over Antarctic sea ice reaching record low levels

Our planet Earth is warming up global temperatures around the world are constantly increasing day by day. Even the polar regions known to have the coldest temperatures are slowly warming up the area of sea ice around antarctica has hit a record low. Mohammed Saleh brings you this report.

Antarctic sea ice hits record low

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Antarctic ice buffer weakening

Antarctic sea ice levels reached record lows in June, WMO says

Scientists alarmed over Antarctic sea ice reaching record low levels

Antarctic sea ice hits record low