Antarctic sea ice extend remains third lowest for April

New Delhi: Antarctic sea ice extent remained well below average, at 19%, ranking third lowest for April, as per the Copernicus Climate Change Service and ECMWF.

Arctic sea ice extent was also 3 per cent below average, ranking 10th lowest for April in the satellite data record.

“Below-average sea ice concentrations prevailed in most sectors of the Arctic Ocean, except in the Greenland Sea where they were well above average, as in the previous month” it said.

Sea ice concentrations were much below-average in all sectors of the Southern Ocean except in the Amundsen and the adjacent part of the Ross Sea.

The monthly average Arctic sea ice extent in April 2023 reached 14.0 million km2, 0.4 million km2 (or 3%) below the 1991-2020 average for April. The lowest extent for April occurred in 2019, at 6% below average.

It said the below-average concentrations prevailed in most marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, including the Barents Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Labrador Sea. While the Greenland Sea continued to stand out with above-average concentrations.

The Weather agency said as in previous months, Antarctic sea ice extent remained well below average in April 2023, reaching 5.9 million km2 on average, 1.4 million km2 (19%) below the 1991-2020 average for April.

“This was the third-lowest extent for April within the 45-year satellite dataset, coming after record or near-record low extents in January, February, and March”.

It is noteworthy that the lowest extent for April occurred at the very beginning of the satellite data record, in 1980.

“The second-lowest extent for April occurred more recently, in 2017, and was followed by other large negative anomalies in 2018, 2019, and 2022” it said.