Once-in-2,000-Year Event; Antarctic Sea Ice Shrinks Dramatically

Antarctica is experiencing a once-in-2,000-year event due to worsening climate change. According to recent research, the Antarctic region has lost sea ice equivalent to ten times the size of the United Kingdom, a phenomenon that occurs only once in 20 centuries.

Historic Ice Loss

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey utilized the CMIP6 climate dataset to study the loss of sea ice in Antarctica. They discovered that sea ice levels shrank to historically low levels in 2023.

“This is the first time this large set of climate models has been used to find out how unlikely 2023’s low sea ice actually was,” said lead author Rachel Diamond. “We only have forty-five years of satellite measurements of sea ice, which makes it extremely difficult to evaluate changes in sea ice extent. This is where climate models come into their own.”

The Role of Climate Change

The study revealed that the record-breaking minimum sea ice extent would be a one-in-2,000-year event without climate change. “According to the models, the event was very extreme, anything less than one-in-100 is considered exceptionally unlikely,” Diamond added.

A view into the vast ocean of ice along the Antarctic peninsula. pic.twitter.com/1RhWdqg7SL

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The researchers also examined the recovery time for the lost ice and found that even 20 years would not be sufficient to return to the sea ice levels seen before 2023, reports Jang. com.