For the third year in a row, the climate crisis is destroying glaciers
The extent of sea ice around Antarctica has fallen below 2 million square kilometers for the third year in a row. These were new record numbers, which experts say are further evidence that the continent is entering a “new era” and can cause global consequences
According to scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, the extent of sea ice around the southern continent has reached at least 1.99 million square kilometers.
This figure compares with data from 2022 and is the second highest in the entire 46-year history of such observations. The lowest figure in history was in February 2023 — 1.79 million square kilometers.
For scientists watching changes in Antarctica, these are alarming signs that the extent of sea ice — the most important factor in maintaining stable climatic conditions around the globe — changed irrevocably.
“2023 just confused everything,— climate researcher Ariane Puric confirmed in an interview with Live Science. — Nothing like 2023 has ever been seen before in the history of observations. That's not just a little low, it's incredibly low.»
Since satellites began tracking Antarctic sea ice in 1978, its extent has typically fluctuated between relatively stable summer lows and winter highs.
< p>Sea ice serves many functions: providing a home for emperor penguins to raise their young; protects vulnerable glaciers from warming seawater; reflects some of the sun's rays back into space; and transports nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide through ocean currents, supporting the development of marine life.
But in recent years, scientists have witnessed changes in the extent of sea ice. One record low in 2016 was followed by another in 2022 and then a third in 2023.
In March 2023, on the continent, when sea ice typically recovers at a rapid pace, scientists observed six months of never-before-seen lows. By the height of the winter season in July, Antarctica had failed to replenish ice reserves that were larger than Western Europe.
A string of records has led scientists to speculate that the southern continent may be moving into a lower state in which summer 2024 will pass without any ice protecting the continent's ice shelves from seawater.
Recent studies have also shown that sea ice extent has become much more variable in recent years — another sign that a «sharp critical transition» has occurred, according to the study.
Following the discovery of these alarming changes, scientists have called for better monitoring and reading of data on the continent; increasing funding for collaborative research; and urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
«If Antarctica stops cooling the planet and starts warming it, then we will all see rapid warming — above 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius),” — explained glaciologist Martin Siegert. He added that once this process begins, it will be largely unstoppable and difficult to correct.
«This is a problem we are addressing for the future, — the scientist believes. — Not only our future, but also the future of our children and those who come after us. Our only way forward — This is decarbonization.»