theguardian.com
Antarctic winter sea ice falls to third-lowest level on record as scientists warn of 'now problem'
Antarctica’s winter sea ice has peaked at its third-lowest level on record, falling a million square kilometres – or almost 400,000 square miles – short of the long-term average, scientists have confirmed. Confirmation of the peak meant the four lowest years on record for the continent’s sea ice – a vital component of the planet’s climate and critical for marine life – had all occurred in the past four years. Satellites have been watching the continent’s sea ice since 1979, and this year data showed the sea ice peaked on 14 September at 17.59m square kilometres, about a million square kilometres short of the average maximum or an area roughly twice the size of Spain. Dr Walt Meier, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, said the centre had held off in declaring the maximum because there was a “lot of potential variability” at this stage in the continent’s sea ice cycle. But the levels of sea ice had been falling since 14 September and he now thought “the maximum has been reached”. Antarctica’s sea ice goes through an enormous annual swing, melting through summer to below 2m sq km in...
