NASA Detects Ice in the South China Sea in the Arctic in 2022-Lowest on record – A sharp drop with that?

This image shows the average concentration of Arctic sea ice on February 25, 2022. The yellow outline shows the average level of sea ice in March, when the ice generally reached its maximum, according to the view. satellite observations from 1981 to 2010. The median is the middle value. That is, half the range is larger than the line and half is smaller.

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its annual maximum on February 25 after growing through fall and winter. This year’s winter extent is the 10th lowest on the satellite record maintained by National Snow and Ice Data Centerone of NASA’s Distributed Operations Archives.

The extent of Arctic sea ice peaks at 5.75 million square miles (14.88 million square kilometers) and is about 297,300 square miles (770,000 square kilometers) below the 1981-2010 mean maximum – the equivalent with the lack of an ice area slightly larger than Texas and Maine combined. This maximum tied to 2015 is the third earliest recorded.

Sea ice waxes and fades with the seasons of the year. In the Arctic, it reaches a maximum around March after growing through the colder months, and shrinks to a minimum in September after melting through the warmer months. In the Southern Hemisphere, the sea ice in Antarctica follows an opposite cycle.

To estimate sea ice levels, satellite sensors collect sea ice data that is processed into daily images, each image grid cell spanning an area of ​​approximately 15 miles by 15 miles (25 km by 25 km). ). The scientists then used these images to estimate the extent of the ocean where sea ice covers at least 15 percent of the water.

This graph shows the daily amount of sea ice in the Arctic in 2022, 2021 and 2012 compared to the 1981-2010 average. This year’s annual maximum was reached on February 25.

Since satellites began reliably tracking sea ice in 1979, the maximum extent in the Arctic has decreased at a rate of about 13% per decade, with the minimum range decreasing by about 2.7 % per decade. These trends are related to warming caused by human activities such as the emission of carbon dioxide, heat trap in the atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise. From NASA analysis also shows that the Arctic is warming about three times faster than other regions.

This February, the sea ice in Antarctica dropped to record low minimum level. But unlike in the Arctic, this sea of ​​ice shows unusual ups and downs mainly due to the geographical features that surround it. Winds and ocean currents associated specifically with the Southern Ocean and Antarctica have a strong influence on the extent of sea ice.

The sea ice in the Arctic is surrounded by land, while the sea ice in the Antarctic is surrounded only by the ocean and so can spread out more freely. Overall, the Antarctic sea ice record shows a slight – but almost flat – trend of up or down.

Gains from sea ice in Antarctica are not large enough to offset the damage of the Arctic. Bandages in both areas help global temperature regulation. Even if Antarctica achieves globally balanced sea ice, the loss of Arctic sea ice could still contribute to further global and regional warming.

Banner image: This image visualizes winter sea ice changes in the Arctic using data provided by the Japan Aviation Exploration Agency’s Global Change Observation Mission aboard the Water 1″ SHIZUKU satellite ”, is part of a satellite led by NASA partnership to operate several Earth observation satellites. The full video can be accessed at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4985.

Credit: NASA Science Visualization Department By Roberto Molar Candanosa
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, Md.

Last Updated: March 23, 2022

Editor: Roberto Molar-Candanosa