Sea ice in the Antarctic region falls to a record low this year as the Earth heats up

As Earth’s temperature continues to rise, the sea ice in the Antarctic region has reached a new record low this year. Scientists issued a warning on Tuesday, stating that there is no quick solution to reverse the damage caused by global warming.

A recent study, published on August 8 in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, reveals that the continent’s minimum summer ice cover, which had dropped below two million square kilometers (or 772,000 square miles) last year, has now further declined. This year’s levels, observed in February, mark the lowest point since satellite monitoring began tracking Antarctica’s summer ice.

In 2023, the sea ice minimum was 20% lower than the average levels recorded over the past 40 years. According to Tim Naish, the director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand (although not a participant in the study), this loss of sea ice is nearly ten times the area of New Zealand. Naish added, “In some cases, we are getting close to tipping points, which once crossed will lead to irreversible changes with unstoppable consequences for future generations.”

Caroline Holmes, one of the study’s co-authors, emphasized that there is no quick solution to replace this lost ice. Recovery from such significant ice loss will take decades, if not centuries. Holmes, a polar climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, stated that even if recovery is possible, it will be a lengthy process.

The study highlights that the burning of fossil fuels is a primary driver of global warming, rendering Antarctica susceptible to extreme events. The impact is predicted to worsen over time, with the study asserting that climate change will undoubtedly lead to more frequent heatwaves, ice shelf collapses, and declines in sea ice in Antarctica.

While the exact impact of global warming on the thickness of Antarctic ice has been challenging to measure, scientists, as per Reuters, struggle to determine the precise extent. However, Martin Siegert, a glaciologist at the University of Exeter and a co-author of the study, stated that it is scientifically reasonable to assume that extreme events will become more frequent in the future.