Scientists in disbelief over ice levels | “It has never been like this, we will have a hard time recovering”

In summer, Antarctica looks like time has stood still, with the midnight sun not dipping below the horizon for weeks between November and January.
But just ten years ago, sunlight was shining on the coast and oceans, creating picturesque scenes with a golden glow. But today, most of the sea ice is nowhere in sight, leaving many scientists and experts seriously concerned about the area’s future.

“Antarctica seems so far away, but the sea ice there is so important to us,” Ella Gilbert, a polar climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, told Live Science. “It’s a really vital part of our climate system.”
Years ago, Antarctic sea ice fluctuated between relatively stable summer minima and winter maxima. However, after a record low in 2016, things have started to turn around.

The situation has seriously changed
Two record lows soon followed, including the lowest ever recorded in February 2023, when sea ice covered just 737,000 square miles, or 1.91 million square kilometers.

When winter came in March of that year, scientists hoped the ice sheet would recover. However, instead of recovering, something unexpected happened: Antarctic ice continued to fall to a record low for six months. At the height of winter in July, the continent was missing a chunk of ice larger than western Europe.

“We all thought the minimum was as bad as it was going to get; it was 2023, not 2070,” Ariaan Purich, an Antarctica climate researcher from Monash University in Australia, told Live Science. “So when winter came, we were in disbelief. “It never looked like that, and it doesn’t look like the situation will improve and the ice will recover,” he added.
These events show that the negative effects on the Antarctic ice came much faster than predicted, leaving scientists and experts worried about the future of this crucial area.