"Something Weird Is Going On": Area Of Antarctic Ocean Not Freezing In Midwinter Is Size Of Mexico

[Blues Heron]

5. They suspect but aren't sure

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Meier says it is hard to know if the changes are natural or human caused – or a mix of both – and says there is some evidence of a similar sudden swing from high levels of sea ice to very low in photographs from mid-1960s satellites.

Dr Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey, says many climate scientists who were “not necessarily sea ice folk” suspect the drops since 2016 showed climate change had “finally burned through the natural barriers around the sea ice formed by the unique wind and atmospheric circulation”. But there was a lack of concrete evidence to support that view

“Overall, the feeling is something big is happening this year, and this is probably associated with the wider decline since 2016,” says Meijers. “Whether this is anthropogenically driven, and if so, what the driver may be, is still up for debate.”