Amid all the changes in Earth’s climate, sea ice in the stormy Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica was, for a long time, an odd exception.
Amid all the changes in Earth’s climate, sea ice in the stormy Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica was, for a long time, an odd exception. The maximum winter sea ice cover remained steady or even increased slightly from the late 1970s through 2015, despite rising global temperatures.
That began to change in 2016. Several years of decline led to an all-time record low in 2023, more than five standard deviations below the average from the satellite record. The area of sea ice was 2.2 million square kilometers below the average from the satellite record, a loss almost 12 times the size of Washington state. The most recent winter’s peak, recorded in September 2024, was very close to the previous year’s record low.
University of Washington researchers show that the all-time record low can be explained by warm Southern Ocean conditions and patterns in the winds that circled Antarctica months earlier, allowing forecasts for sea ice coverage around the South Pole to be generated six or more months in advance. This could support regional and global weather and climate models.
Read More: University of Washington
The sea ice off West Antarctica, seen here in October 2018 from a research vessel. New research explains and predicts the recent lows in winter sea ice around Antarctica. (Photo Credit: Hannah Dawson/University of Washington)
