An area of Antarctic winter sea ice roughly the size of France – around 650,000 km² – failed to form between June and July 2026. Thus, Antarctica is currently missing sea ice along the Bellingshausen Sea, off the coast of West Antarctica, as shown by satellite observations. The seasonal formation of Antarctic sea ice has been a natural feature of Earth’s climate for thousands of years.
Normally, sea ice expands through winter and reaches its maximum extent in September. However, unusually warm ocean water & extreme heat across the Antarctic Peninsula seems to have caused the non-formation of the sea ice. This raise concerns that the Antarctic climate system may be entering a period of increased instability…
Source: Global Climate Risks Platform
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