Sea ice extent in Antarctica was the lowest ever recorded in January and, in the Arctic, the third lowest, according to an assessment by two climate-monitoring agencies.
The assessment was carried out by the climate change service of the European Copernicus program and the United States National Ice and Snow Data Center (NSIDC), and released this Thursday by the UN News portal.
According to the NSIDC, the two hemispheres combined set a record extent of global sea ice.
Experts point out, however, that these data do not necessarily signify a trend and that the situation may be caused by climate-related variability.
In terms of temperature, the data shows that the last eight years have been the hottest on record.
According to Copernicus, January was the seventh warmest overall and the third warmest in Europe, which recorded exceptionally mild temperatures on New Year’s Day.
Sea ice extent and temperature are climate indicators used by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its “State of the World’s Climate” reports.
The data presented by the WMO also indicates that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average. As a result, the sea ice has retreated dramatically during the 44 years of satellite recording.
Since 1979, January has lost 1.89 million square kilometers, equivalent to about twice the size of Germany.
Regionally, sea ice extent remained particularly low in the Barents Sea and below average in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of St. Petersburg.
Arctic sea ice generally reaches its annual maximum extent in late February or early March, when Antarctic sea ice reaches its minimum extent.
Gorm Dybkjær, a sea ice researcher at the Danish National Center for Climate Research at the Danish Meteorological Institute, said that over the past year, sea ice extent was generally low in Antarctica.
Dybkjær added that this situation leaves its mark, as the new ice that forms during the winter becomes more brittle and more likely to break up and melt, making recovery more difficult.
This reality is already observed in the Arctic Ocean.
According to the expert, it is still too early to conclude whether the sea ice continues to decline in Antarctica or if there are only long-term natural fluctuations in the climate.
Gorm Dybkjær also explained that more data is needed to assess whether the changes are due to climate change.
However, the researcher argued that the lower extent of sea ice in Antarctica fits the expectation of what will happen when global temperatures rise.
Source: TSF
