From shrinking of glaciers and ice caps to raging wildfires, from elevated sea level to increased green house gas in atmosphere- climate change plays a pivotal role in the shift of ecological balance of the planet earth. As per a report by BBC, a new satellite data of antarctic ice has raised a new concern as the sea-ice surrounding the region is seen to be significantly below any previous recorded winter level.
According to the climate watchdog National Snow and Ice Data Center's Walter Meier, "It's so far outside anything we've seen, it's almost mind-blowing." It has been reported that the ice floating on the Antarctic Ocean's surface currently measures less than 17 million square kilometre which is 1.5 million square kilometre of sea-ice less than the September average and is an area of missing ice about five times the size of the British Isles.
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Amid the depreciating sea-ice, experts and scientists insist the low sea-ice is the measure to pay attention to.
Why is the antarctic ice important?
The ice of the Antarctic region carries the major responsibility of keeping the temperature down for the entire area through a feedback mechanism which is commonly known as the Ice-Albedo effect
The theory explicitly describes the primary reason behind the melting of ice caps, ice sheets and glaciers. It suggests that ice is best capable of reflecting sunlight and thus it reduces the quantity of insolation absorbed by the earth, which causes cooling of the earth surface.
Therefore, disappearence of sea-ice facilitates chances of more exposure to dark areas of ocean ehich will accelerate the absorption of heat energy into the water which inturn will melt more ice, much like a feedback loop.
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According to scientists, this effect adds a lot more heat to the planet and disrupts Antarctica's role as a regulator of global temperatures.
In Antarctica, the sea-ice forms in the continent's winter between March to October, ahead of it melting in summer.
