GoKawiil
Tech News
A study published in Science finds that Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, snow cover, and permafrost extent have all moved outside what researchers call the 'safe operating space' maintained over the past 12,000 years. Mountain glaciers and land ice remain just within that threshold but are projected to cross it in coming centuries given warming already built into the climate system.
Researchers analyzing six independent datasets collected from 2004 to 2024, including Argo float measurements, found that a deep Southern Ocean layer called Antarctic Intermediate Water has rapidly become saltier since 2016, reversing decades of freshening. The change coincides with a sharp drop in Antarctic sea ice extent that began around 2016 after a record high in 2014, with ice extent hitting another low in 2023.
Scientists have documented a large ice-free opening, known as a polynya, forming in the Antarctic sea ice during winter near the Maud Rise region of the Weddell Sea. Such a large-scale winter polynya in this area has not been observed at this scale since the 1970s, according to researchers tracking satellite and ocean data.
A physicist has proposed repurposing over-the-horizon radar technology, originally developed for Cold War early-warning systems, to track sea ice conditions across the Arctic. The approach would bounce radar signals off the ionosphere to cover vast distances, potentially monitoring shipping lanes that are becoming more navigable as ice melts.