New satellite images show just how little sea ice is left in the Antarctic after the hottest month on record.
The continent is currently in the depths of winter, but the images posted by NASA Earth Observatory show a drastically lower amount of sea ice than is normal for this time of year.
Data collected by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), one of NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers, on August 7 shows that Antarctica's sea ice averaged 5.2 million square miles in July, which is the lowest ever observed since records began in 1978.
This follows July 2023—the hottest month globally that has ever been recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organization. During this month, it was 0.72 C warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average for July.
"What we're seeing this year is uncharted territory in the satellite record," Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NSIDC, said in a statement to the NASA Earth Observatory.
This year, the sea ice is 579,000 square miles lower than the record low set in the same period in 2022.
Previous data released this year shows that the last couple of years have been unprecedented for the continent.
In July, data released on July 19 from the Climate Reanalyzer by the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute shows that there was almost 772,000 miles² less sea ice in Antarctica compared to the same point last year. Last year, there were about 9.4 million miles of sea ice cover on the continent.
Antarctica goes through seasonal ice trends. In normal years, the continent sees around 15 million square kilometers of ice accumulation before it melts, NASA reported. But in recent years the ice growth has been dramatically slowed.
A yellow ring around the map shows where the ice used to reach, in the years 1981 to 2010. During this time, the sea ice covered an area the size of Mexico, the NASA Observatory reported.
Antarctica has seen a sharp decline in its sea ice coverage since 2014.
Since then, several record lows have been recorded, including in 2017 as well as 2022 and 2023.
"Most of the months since 2016 have been well below average," Meier said in a statement.
Scientists are not sure what caused the sea ice extent to change so dramatically, but this could continue as the world continues to warm.
Climate change is believed to be the main driving force behind Antarctica's low ice coverage.
"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 previously told Newsweek. "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. 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."
Antarctica's melting ice will have profound effects on the planet if this continues. It is 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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Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on wildlife, science and the ... Read more
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