JAXA EXTENT 14,976,699 km2(November 16, 2018)Extent loss last 2 days 158k per day, > average (last 10 years).
Extent is
- 45 k (0.3 %) below 2017,
- 1,065 k (7.7 %) above 2016,
- 887 k (5.6 %) below the 2010's average
- 2nd lowest in the satellite record,
Antarctic Sea Ice at this time of year extends well north of the Antarctic Circle, much north of 60 degrees South. There is 887 k Km2 of open sea compared with the 2010's average absorbing significant warmth as opposed to nearly zero (albedo effect).
Extent loss to date from maximum is only 85 k km2 (2.8%) greater than the average, but with just 23.8 % of the melting season over. The graph is following 2017, well above 2016 extent and rate of loss. The time of year has arrived when sea ice extent plunges.
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Antarctic Sea Ice is often dismissed of little importance in the grand scheme of things. The following is a quote from the June 2018 sea ice analysis from NSIDC.
Per NSIDC:-
Antarctica’s sea ice and ice shelf disintegration[/b]
.... sea ice—a component of the cryosphere that is very sensitive to changing climate and ocean—has an important protective effect on the Antarctic ice sheet.
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