Do scientists study Antarctic sea ice? Why don’t I hear much about Antarctic sea ice—including the recent record high—from scientists or the media?
NSIDC scientists do monitor sea ice in the Antarctic. Sea ice in the Antarctic is of interest to scientists. While many have published peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic, it has received less attention than the Arctic. There are several reasons for this. Unlike Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice disappears almost completely during the summer, and has since scientists have studied it. Earth’s climate system over thousands of years has been “in tune” with this annual summertime disappearance of Antarctic sea ice. However, satellite records and pre-satellite records indicate that the Arctic has not been free of summertime sea ice for at least 5,500 years and possibly for 125,000 years. So Earth’s climate system and ecosystems, as they exist today, did not develop in conjunction with an ice-free Arctic. Such an ice-free Arctic summer environment would be a change unprecedented in modern human history and could have ramifications for climate around the world.
