Last month, Antarctica’s sea ice hit its maximum (largest) extent towards the end of Antarctic winter; but that “maximum” was the lowest ever observed, reaching only about 17 million km2. That was over 1 million km2 than the previous record. Sea ice scientists are beginning to speak of a state change in Antarctic sea ice, due to global warming, that over the past six years has hit lows that took Arctic sea ice 40 years to reach. At the other pole, the Arctic experienced its sixth lowest summer minimum of sea ice since satellite records began in 1979. To explain these trends, their context and potential global effects, Dr. Walt Meier, Senior Research Scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), summarized these latest sea ice observations.
Video recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL4X7ploiJQ
Nature Communications, 29 May 2026 The soils of Arctic river deltas store large amounts of…
Scientific Reports, 27 May 2026 Rising global temperatures increase the exposure of communities and infrastructure…
Global Environmental Change, 20 May 2026 In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, reducing greenhouse gas emissions could…
Nature Sustainability, 4 May 2026 Sediment records from the Last Inter-Glacial (LIG) period suggest that…
NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 20 May 2026 Human-caused warming has been the primary driver…
Nature Communications, 27 May 2026 Sudden drainage of meltwater lakes through water-filled fractures can locally…