Record Low Antarctic Sea Ice Cover in February 2022

Turner, John; Holmes, Caroline; Harrison, Thomas Caton; Phillips, Tony; Jena, Babula; Reeves‐Francois, Tylei; Fogt, Ryan L.; Thomas, Elizabeth R.; Bajish, C. C.

doi:10.1029/2022gl098904

Cited by 85 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Antarctic sea ice plays an important role in the global climate system by reflecting the solar energy and modulating the surface water salinity (Goosse and Zunz, 2014;Massom et al, 2018;Maksym, 2019). In the context of global warming and the significant decline in Arctic sea ice cover, the Antarctic sea ice area has unexpectedly increased over recent decades (Zhang, 2007;Parkinson and Cavalieri, 2012;Comiso et al, 2017) but dropped to a historic low in 2017 and again in 2022 (Turner and Comiso, 2017;Turner et al, 2022). During 2016-2020, the sea ice coverage in the Southern Ocean did not recover and set eight new Antarctic monthly record lows instead (Parkinson and DiGirolamo, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness in the Southern Ocean

Wang

Min²,

Ricker³

et al. 2022

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. The crucial role that Antarctic sea ice plays in the global climate system is strongly linked to its thickness. While field observations are too sparse in the Southern Ocean to determine long-term trends of the Antarctic sea ice thickness (SIT) on a hemispheric scale, satellite radar altimetry data can be applied with a promising prospect. The European Space Agency's Sea Ice Climate Change Initiative project (ESA SICCI) generates sea ice thickness derived from Envisat, covering the entire Southern Ocean year-round from 2002 to 2012. In this study, the SICCI Envisat Antarctic SIT is first compared with an Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) SIT product retrieved with a modified ice density algorithm. Both data sets are compared to SIT estimates from upward-looking sonar (ULS) in the Weddell Sea, showing mean differences (MDs) and standard deviations (SDs, in parentheses) of 1.29 (0.65) m for Envisat − ULS (− denotes “minus” and the same below), while we find 1.11 (0.81) m for ICESat − ULS. The inter-comparisons are conducted for all seasons except for winter, based on the ICESat operating periods. According to the results, the differences between Envisat and ICESat SIT reveal significant temporal and spatial variations. More specifically, the smallest seasonal SIT MD (SD) of 0.00 m (0.39 m) for Envisat − ICESat is found in spring (October–November), while a larger MD (SD) of 0.52 (0.68 m) and 0.57 m (0.45 m) exists in summer (February–March) and autumn (May–June). It is also shown that from autumn to spring, mean Envisat SIT decreases while mean ICESat SIT increases. Our findings suggest that both overestimation of Envisat sea ice freeboard potentially caused by radar backscatter originating from inside the snow layer and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E, where EOS stands for Earth Observing System) snow depth biases and sea ice density uncertainties can possibly account for the differences between Envisat and ICESat SIT.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness in the Southern Ocean

Wang

Min²,

Ricker³

et al. 2022

The Cryosphere

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“…1a). In February 2022, the SIE reached a new record low 44 . Observations and model experiments by prescribing observed tropical SST anomalies suggested that the 2016 extreme sea ice low was caused by (1) southward warm air advection associated with the zonal wave number 3 teleconnection pattern in the early austral spring induced by tropical SST anomalies, and (2) the strong negative SAM event in the late austral spring [38][39][40][41][42] .…”

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confidence: 99%

The relative role of the subsurface Southern Ocean in driving negative Antarctic Sea ice extent anomalies in 2016–2021

Zhang

Delworth

Yang

et al. 2022

Commun Earth Environ

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The low Antarctic sea ice extent following its dramatic decline in late 2016 has persisted over a multiyear period. However, it remains unclear to what extent this low sea ice extent can be attributed to changing ocean conditions. Here, we investigate the causes of this period of low Antarctic sea ice extent using a coupled climate model partially constrained by observations. We find that the subsurface Southern Ocean played a smaller role than the atmosphere in the extreme sea ice extent low in 2016, but was critical for the persistence of negative anomalies over 2016–2021. Prior to 2016, the subsurface Southern Ocean warmed in response to enhanced westerly winds. Decadal hindcasts show that subsurface warming has persisted and gradually destabilized the ocean from below, reducing sea ice extent over several years. The simultaneous variations in the atmosphere and ocean after 2016 have further amplified the decline in Antarctic sea ice extent.

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“…Sea ice, which shapes the entire marine ecosystem, has slightly increased in extent in the East Antarctic SO over the past decades, albeit with strong interannual variations. The unprecedented springtime retreats in 2016 and 2021/22 (Turner et al, , 2022 and generally lower summer extent since 2016 and 2021/2022 (compared to the 1981/2010 long-term mean) may indicate the onset of a circum-Antarctic decline of sea-ice extent (Rackow et al, 2022). Increased upwelling, probably associated with the Southern Annular Mode, is the most reasonable explanation for changes in nutrient concentrations in the upper water column in the Weddell Gyre since the 1990s (Hoppema et al, 2015).…”

Section: Geographical and Environmental Justificationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Over the recent decades, a slight increase in Antarctic sea-ice extent has been observed, with considerable spatial and temporal variabilities (Parkinson, 2019), even though the summer sea-ice minimum has been below the long-term trend in the past seven years, with a record low in February 2022 (Turner et al, 2022). However, the low sea-ice extent period is not yet long enough to conclude a regime shift or a change in long-term trends.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: A framework to observe, understand and project ecosystem response to environmental change in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean

Gutt

Arndt²,

Barnes³

et al. 2022

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Systematic long-term studies on ecosystem dynamics are largely lacking from the East Antarctic Southern Ocean, although it is well recognized that they are indispensable to identify the ecological impacts and risks of environmental change. Here, we present a framework for establishing a long-term cross-disciplinary study on decadal timescales. We argue that the eastern Weddell Sea and the adjacent sea to the east, off Dronning Maud Land, is a particularly well suited area for such a study, since it is based on findings from previous expeditions to this region. Moreover, since climate and environmental change have so far been comparatively muted in this area, as in the eastern Antarctic in general, a systematic long-term study of its environmental and ecological state can provide a baseline of the current situation, which will be important for an assessment of future changes from their very onset, with consistent and comparable time series data underpinning and testing models and their projections. By establishing an Integrated East Antarctic Marine Research (IEAMaR) observatory, long-term changes in ocean dynamics, geochemistry, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions and services will be systematically explored and mapped through regular autonomous and ship-based synoptic surveys. An associated long-term ecological research (LTER) programme, including experimental and modelling work, will allow for studying climate-driven ecosystem changes and interactions with impacts arising from other anthropogenic activities. This integrative approach will provide a level of long-term data availability and ecosystem understanding that are imperative to determine, understand, and project the consequences of climate change and support a sound science-informed management of future conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean.

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Record Low Antarctic Sea Ice Cover in February 2022

Cited by 85 publications

References 31 publications

A comparison between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness in the Southern Ocean

A comparison between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness in the Southern Ocean

The relative role of the subsurface Southern Ocean in driving negative Antarctic Sea ice extent anomalies in 2016–2021

Reviews and syntheses: A framework to observe, understand and project ecosystem response to environmental change in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean

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