Antarctic sea ice extent has shrunk to its lowest level on record this year as a result of rising global temperatures. Antarctic iceberg, taken last January. (2023 REUTERS/Natalie Thomas/File Photo)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Antarctic sea ice extent has shrunk to its lowest level on record this year as a result of rising global temperatures. Researchers say there is no quick fix to recoup this loss.
A study published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science found that Antarctica’s sea ice extent shrank last year to 2 million square kilometers for the first time since satellite observations began in 1978. , but this year it decreased further and reached a record low.
“It will take decades, if not centuries, for this situation to improve,” said Caroline Holmes, a polar climate scientist at the British Antarctic Regional Observatory and one of the study’s co-authors. He pointed out that there is no immediate remedy.
Tim Naish, director of the Antarctic Research Center at Victoria University Wellington in New Zealand, said this year’s sea ice extent is 20% below the 40-year average. Its size is nearly ten times the size of New Zealand.
“In some cases, we are approaching a limit, which once exceeded will lead to irreversible changes with consequences that future generations will not be able to stop,” Naish said.
Global warming, fueled by the burning of fossil fuels, would make Antarctica more vulnerable to extreme events, the impacts of which would “virtually certainly” get worse, the paper said.
