After reaching a record-low summer minimum earlier this year, Antarctic sea ice continues to break records. In the midst of its winter growth phase, it has reached a record-low extent, far below the previous record, for this time of year.
Data archived by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) record Antarctic sea ice extent at 4.5 million square miles (11.7 million square kilometers) as of June 27, 2023. That’s nearly a million square miles (2.6 million square kilometers) below the 1981–2010 average, and approaching a half a million square miles (1.2 million square kilometers) below the previous lowest extent for the day, observed in 2022.
Comparing late June 2023 sea ice concentration to the median ice edge for the same time of year shows below-average sea ice concentrations around nearly the entirety of the continent. Only in parts of the northern Amundsen Sea near West Antarctica does sea ice spill over the long-term median ice edge.
Read More: NOAA
Adapted from NSIDC’s Sea Ice Index, this map shows sea ice concentration on June 27, 2023. Concentration is color coded, with white representing solid ice and dark blue representing open ocean. For reference, this map includes the median ice edge for 1981–2010: half of the years had smaller extents, and half had larger on this date. Map by NOAA Climate.gov, based on data from NSIDC.