Antarctic sea ice has reached its smallest area on record for the second year in a row, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union’s climate monitoring agency.
The ocean surface covered by ice around the frozen continent shrank to 2.09 million square kilometres on February 16, which is the lowest level since satellite records began.
The US government scientists also confirmed the new record last month, with an even lower figure of 1.79 million sq km. The record lows in 2022 and 2023 are about 30 percent below the 1981-2010 average.
The melting sea ice does not impact sea levels because it is already in ocean water, but it accelerates global warming, including in the Arctic region, and has implications for the stability of Antarctic ice shelves and global sea level rise.