Chart of the Antarctic Daily Sea Ice Extent, with September 10, 2023 highlighted.
Implications and Causes
The map at the top of this page shows the Antarctic sea ice degree on September 10, 2023. “Its a record-smashing sea ice low in the Antarctic,” said Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NSIDC. “Sea ice growth appears low around nearly the entire continent as opposed to any one region.”
Scientists are working to comprehend the cause of the meager growth of the Antarctic sea ice, which could include a combination of aspects such as El Niño, wind patterns, and warming ocean temperature levels. New research study has actually shown that ocean heat is most likely playing a crucial function in slowing winter season ice growth and improving warm season melting.
Arctic sea ice most likely reached its yearly minimum degree on September 19, 2023, making it the sixth-lowest year in the satellite record, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest maximum degree on record on September 10 at a time when the ice cover need to have been growing at a much faster speed during the darkest and coldest months. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Trends and Climate Feedback
This record-low level so far in 2023 is a continuation of a down pattern in Antarctic sea ice that began after a record high in 2014. Prior to 2014, ice surrounding the continent was increasing somewhat by about 1% per decade.
Sea ice melting at both poles enhances warming because of a cycle called “ice-albedo feedback.” While bright sea ice shows the majority of the Suns energy back to area, open ocean water absorbs 90% of it. With greater areas of the ocean exposed to solar power, more heat can be taken in, which warms the ocean waters and further hold-ups sea ice growth.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using information from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Map of the Antarctic sea ice level on September 10, 2023.
Satellite data shows that Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest maximum degree on record on September 10, 2023.
Antarctic sea ice reached its least expensive maximum level on record on September 10 at a time when the ice cover must have been growing at a much faster pace during the darkest and coldest months.
Sea ice around Antarctica reached its lowest winter maximum degree on September 10, 2023, at 6.5 million square miles (16.96 million square kilometers), according to scientists at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Thats 398,000 square miles (1.03 million square kilometers) below the previous record-low reached in 1986– a difference that corresponds to approximately the size of Texas and California integrated. The typical optimum level in between 1981 and 2010 was 7.22 million square miles (18.71 million square kilometers).
By Sally Younger. NASA Earth Observatory
October 1, 2023
Sea ice around Antarctica reached its least expensive winter optimum extent on September 10, 2023, at 6.5 million square miles (16.96 million square kilometers), according to scientists at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). “Its a record-smashing sea ice low in the Antarctic,” stated Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NSIDC. Arctic sea ice likely reached its yearly minimum extent on September 19, 2023, making it the sixth-lowest year in the satellite record, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Antarctic sea ice reached its least expensive optimum extent on record on September 10 at a time when the ice cover should have been growing at a much faster pace during the darkest and coldest months.
