by The world currently has less sea -ice than ever before according to a new analysis, in which both the North Pole and the Antarctic research experience unusually warm temperatures. This has led to a huge melt in the region around the South Pole, while things in the north simply do not freeze the way they should be at this time of the year.
With the help of data from the American National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the BBC has calculated that the combined size of the arctic and Antarctic Sea was 15.76 million square kilometers (6.08 million square miles) during the five days until February 13. That is noticeable. Less than the previous record low of 15.93 million square kilometers (6.15 million square miles), which was set over a period of five days between January and February 2023.
The depressing low total reflects the fact that the measurements of the Arctic Sea ice cream 2024 ended at their lowest levels ever in December. The new year then started with the second worst January on record, and the total frozen area is currently approximately 0.2 million square kilometers (77,220 square miles) smaller than the previous low point for the month of February.
On the other side of the planet, the record for melting the surface of the Antarctic ice cap is broken several times in the course of this southern hemisphere summer, with new milestones in December and January. According to the NSIDC, this mass is driven by abnormal temperatures over the Antarctic ice cap, where the mercury floated around 1 ° C (2 ° F) above the average for the entire second half of 2024.
A separate analysis also showed that warm southern ocean conditions and changes in wind patterns can accelerate this ice loss and be able to explain why Antarctic Sea is now almost under the record of the record, that is taking place in 2023. That event was that event was to Expectation will take place once every 2,000 years, but people are now threatening to convert this anomaly into a normality by people driven climate change.
January 2025, for example, the most popular month ever was registered, while 2024 as a whole the planet the dreaded digit of 1.5 ° C (2.7 ° F) surpassed pre-industrial levels for the first time.
On the subject of warming up, the BBC reports that the temperature on the North Pole was approximately 20 ° C (36 ° F) higher than expected at the beginning of February, which contributed to the slow freezing this winter.
To make matters worse, low sea ice mirrors have the potential to activate a vicious circle because of the Albedo effect, which refers to the tendency of light-colored surfaces to reflect the rays of the sun back in the room. While the white blanket that covers the poles of the planet, more is exposed, more of the dark ocean is exposed, which means that more solar radiation is absorbed and global warming is intensified.
And with temperatures that continue to rise, scientists fear that the North Pole area could see its first ice -free summer before the mid -century.
