This world event happens once in 2,000 years

The loss of sea ice level in the Antarctic sea, which is 10x the size of the UK, has been explained as a once in 2,000 years event which is currently underway.

A long-term decline in sea ice might have a significant impact on marine ecosystems and weather patterns, hence it is imperative that studies continue in order to comprehend and predict such changes in the future, as per a new study, according to SciTech Daily.

Studies show that the risk of Antarctic sea ice reaching record lows in 2023 was greatly raised by climate change. There could be major repercussions for marine life and the weather worldwide if sea ice levels are to decline over time.

The Antarctic sea ice decreased to previously unheard-of proportions in 2023, with winter ice coverage dropping by more than 2 million square kilometres—roughly ten times the area of the United Kingdom. Given the consistent increase of sea ice that had been seen up until 2015, this notable decline was all the more startling and unexpected.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey examined this remarkable sea ice loss using the CMIP6 big climate dataset.

To determine how likely it was that sea ice would decrease to such a great extent and how climate change would affect it, they examined data from eighteen different climate models.

Cause of Antarctic sea ice loss

Lead author Rachel Diamond clarified that although climate change increased the likelihood of exceptionally low sea ice in 2023, the models still regarded it as extremely improbable.

She says: “This is the first time this large set of climate models has been used to find out how unlikely 2023’s low sea ice actually was. We only have forty-five years of satellite measurements of sea ice, which makes it extremely difficult to evaluate changes in sea ice extent. This is where climate models come into their own.”