Scientists have expressed concern over the Antarctic sea ice breaking records for the third time in the past six years. This year’s February saw a significant decline in sea level, beating the previous record set in 2022.
The extent of sea ice fell to 1.92 million square kilometres on February 25, 2022, marking a record low since satellite measurements of ice floating in the water around Antarctica began in 1979.
By February 25, the ice level had hit a new low of 1.79 million square kilometres, breaking the previous record by 136,000 square kilometres, or an area twice the size of Tasmania, according to the Guardian. Nevertheless, this record had already been broken by February 12 of this year.
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.
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