Antarctica's Sea Ice Level Breaks Lowest Ever Record

Antarctica's sea ice level appears to have broken its lowest-ever record, likely due to climate change, researchers have found.

Data from the Climate Reanalyzer by the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute on July 19 shows that there is almost 2 million kilometers² (about 772,000 miles²) less sea ice in Antarctica compared to the same point last year. Last year, there were 15.030 million kilometers (about 9.4 million miles) of sea ice cover on the continent.

At the beginning of 2022, the combined sea ice extent of the Arctic and Antarctic was the lowest for the month of January ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization reported.

"Sea ice around the Antarctic has taken a nosedive in the last few years, plummeting faster than any other time since observations began," Ella Gilbert, a climate scientist and presenter told Newsweek.

Scientists believe the melt is due to climate change.

Around 10 percent of the Earth's land area is ice, and 90 percent of this is in Antarctica, with the rest in Greenland, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Ice forms protective layers over the Earth and keeps the planet cool, as the bright white spots reflect excess heat back into space.

But as the climate warms, the ice is in peril. Climate change, exacerbated by human activities and greenhouse gasses, is melting Antarctic ice rapidly. It's been an emerging trend since the year 1990.

The continent is losing ice mass at a rate of 150 billion tons per year, according to NASA. It appears as though the situation is getting worse. But more research needs to be done to whether this decline in recent years is a blip or whether this will continue, Gilbert said.

"It's still too early to say conclusively whether this is a blip in the record or part of an emerging trend, but we expect sea ice to decline in a warming Antarctic," Gilbert told Newsweek. "Sea ice is sandwiched between a warming atmosphere and ocean, so is sensitive to changes from above and below, although it has previously proved difficult to predict because there are so many complex factors at play.

"Despite this complexity, it seems likely that Antarctic sea ice will begin to mirror its northern counterpart as human activity continues to change our climate," he said.

This melting ice is also contributing to global sea level increases, which is a major threat facing the world's cities. Scientists fear that if something to mitigate climate change is not done immediately, it could get out of hand.

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