Bellingshausen Sea Shows 650,000 Square Kilometres Less June Sea Ice Than Average

Satellite images show a region of the Bellingshausen Sea on the west side of Antarctica that is normally covered by winter sea ice in June is largely ice-free this year. Approximately 650,000 square kilometres of winter sea ice failed to form, an area roughly the size of France.

Dr Will Hobbs, sea-ice researcher at the University of Tasmania, has been monitoring daily satellite images of the Bellingshausen Sea since April.

"It is concerning, absolutely," he said. " Hobbs said the location is oceanographically unusual, with relatively warm waters and an unusually close relationship to warm ocean currents moving south. 5 million square kilometres below previous-year levels.

That year recorded the first instance of extreme low sea-ice cover in Antarctica during winter. Each subsequent year has shown different results. Edward Doddridge, physical oceanographer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Tasmania, said sea-ice loss has become an expected pattern.

"It's not good news, but it has become a pattern that we're expecting now," he said. " Doddridge noted that warmer ocean temperatures in the 100-metre to 300-metre depth range have a large impact on sea ice. He said researchers have not yet established the direct causal link but that current losses are consistent with expectations in a warmer world.

Sea ice does not directly contribute to sea-level rise but protects ice shelves that do. Loss of sea ice is expected to affect marine life, including threatened penguin species that rely on sea ice. Hobbs said there are potentially global impacts beyond the local environment.