The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported on February 13 that the sea ice bordering Antarctica dropped to just 1.91 million square kilometres, reaching with this the lowest level ever recorded.
Although climate models dating back to 2014 predicted a decline in the Arctic sea levels similar to that taking place at the Arctic; the region was not following the expected behaviour if the model.
This record low may signal the region started following the model’s predictions.
NSIDC researchers also elaborated that “In past years, the annual minimum has occurred between 18 February and 3 March, so further decline is expected.” Sea ice starts to grow again as summer ends and autumn arrives.
Professor Karsten Gohl from the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany exclaimed at the rapid pace the situation changes with.
“The continental shelf, an area the size of Germany, is now completely ice-free,” Gohl said, reflecting on his first visit to the region in 1994.
According to CNN, Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado Boulder explained that the recent sudden changes would take “a while to unpack” before any conclusions can be made; estimating that at least five years of data and observation will be needed.
