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Antarctic sea ice cover hits many record lows

  • May 23, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Antarctic sea ice cover hits many record lows

Subject : Environment

Section: Climate Change

Concept :

  • A recent report indicates that the extent of sea ice in Antarctica has reached its lowest recorded level. The concerning trend continues, as global temperatures rise, leading to a reduction in sea ice cover.

Antarctica Ice Cover Status

  • Antarctica experiences a cycle where sea ice melts during its summer season, occurring from approximately October to March, and subsequently freezes again during the winter months.
  • Although ice sheets in Antarctica undergo seasonal melting every summer, the extent of the record-breaking drop observed this year surpasses previous minimum levels.
  • Specifically, on February 19, 2023, the Antarctic sea ice extent reached a historic low of 1.76 million square kilometers.

Ice cover decline: Key data

  • Square km decline
  • The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provided the figures, highlighting the significant decrease in Antarctic sea ice.
  • On February 16, the ocean surface covered by ice around Antarctica shrank to 2.09 million square kilometers (800,000 square miles), the lowest level since satellite records began.
  • Warming trends
  • Both the North and South poles have experienced significant warming, with temperatures rising by approximately 3 degrees Celsius compared to late 19th-century levels, three times the global average.
  • Arctic sea ice has been diminishing by about 3 percent per year since the late 1970s, while sea ice in Antarctica has remained relatively constant with large annual variations.
  • Regional variances and vulnerabilities
  • Recent ice cover reduction during the southern hemisphere summer has been most pronounced in West Antarctica, which is more vulnerable to the impacts of global warming compared to East Antarctica.
  • Antarctica witnessed its first recorded heatwave in 2020, with temperatures 9.2 degrees Celsius above the mean maximum. Unusual temperature spikes have been observed in various parts of Antarctica.
  • The Arctic has also experienced significant declines in sea ice, with the record minimum sea ice extent occurring in 2012.

About C3S

  • The Copernicus Climate Change Service (abbreviated as C3S) is one of the six thematic services provided by the European Union’s Copernicus Programme.
  • Copernicus is the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme. It consists of a complex set of systems that collect data from multiple sources: earth observation satellites and in situ sensors, such as ground stations, airborne and sea borne sensors.
  • Copernicus processes these data and provides users with information through a set of services that address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management and security.
  • The Copernicus Climate Change Service provides authoritative information about the world’s past, present and future climate.
  • The freely accessible high-quality data, tools and information help businesses, scientists and policymakers to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Antarctic sea ice cover hits many record lows Environment

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