Antarctic ice registers record low for second year | CPT PPP Coverage

Climate change is causing all sorts of visible changes around us. From the increased intensity of storms to melting glaciers, the effects are very apparent. Now another such development has made scientists take note. Ice in Antarctica has recorded a record low for a second year now. On February 13 this year, the ice extent of Antarctica dropped to just 737,000 square miles (1.91 square kilometres).

Previous record for the lowest ice extent was of 741,000 square miles (1.92 million square kilometres) recorded on February 25 last year. The numbers are released by USA’s National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

“It’s “not just ‘barely a record low,’” said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, he was quoted by CNN.

Ice mass in the Arctic around North Pole has shown a consistent downward trend over years but that in Antarctic has swung between highs and lows. In 2014, the ice mass reached a record high of 7.76 million square miles. This made scientists think that Antarctica is relatively insulated from the effects of Climate Change.

But 2016 onwards, scientists and researchers began witnessing a downward trend and after two years of record lows, it has got them worried. 

“The question is, has climate change reached Antarctica? Is this the beginning of the end? Will the sea ice disappear for good in the coming years in the summer?” Christian Haas, head of the Sea Ice Physics Research Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. Haas was quoted by the CNN.

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