Meltdown
The latest data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reveals that the sea ice coverage around the Antarctic is smaller than ever, with just 1.79 million square kilometers recorded yesterday. That’s the lowest observed surface area since monitoring began via satellites in 1979, with further melting predicted by scientists in the coming weeks.
Deep into the Southern Hemisphere's summer, or melt season as the NSIDC refers to it, sea ice is always at its lowest, but this year's numbers have plunged to new depths.
1.79 million square km is still a lot of ice — it’s an area larger than Alaska, or 10x the size of Oklahoma — but it’s less than half of the coverage recorded on the same day 10 years ago. It’s even lower than 2022, the worst year for Antarctic sea ice on record, which saw sea ice coverage of 1.92 million square km at its lowest.
Warmed up
As we charted about last year, our oceans often take the brunt of warmer temperatures, absorbing more than 90% of global warming heat. Melting sea ice is a concern, not just because it disrupts habitats and important ocean currents, but because the bright sea ice usually reflects a lot of sunlight back into space. Less ice means less reflection and more absorption... which means less ice... and so a cycle of warming begins.
