Antarctic ice levels see ‘massive decrease’, global climate researcher says

Sea ice levels in Antarctica hit a record low last month, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Monday, a development that climate change experts describe as worrisome.

WMO said Antarctic sea ice levels last month — the hottest June on record — were at their lowest since satellite observations began, at 17 percent below average.

“We are used to seeing this big reduction in sea ice in the Arctic, but not in Antarctica. This is a huge reduction,” Michael Sparrow, the head of the WMO’s climate research division, told reporters in Geneva.

The WMO said Arctic sea ice levels were slightly below average, but well above June values ​​for the past eight years.

Global sea surface temperatures in May and June were at record highs for the time of year, according to the WMO, which warned that warming oceans were rapidly spreading beyond their surfaces.

“It’s not just the surface temperature, but the whole ocean is warming up and absorbing energy that will stay there for hundreds of years,” WMO said. “Alarm bells are ringing extra loud because of the unprecedented sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic.”

The organization said the El Niño weather pattern, which emerged recently, was expected to increase temperatures both on land and in the oceans, which could lead to more marine heat waves and extreme temperatures.

The WMO also reported that June was drier than average across much of North America, conditions that “promoted and sustained severe wildfires.”

It was also drier in Russia, the Horn of Africa, most of southern Africa, South America and regions of Australia, according to the Copernicus climate change service.

Conversely, it was wetter than average in most of southern Europe, western Iceland and northwestern Russia, the WMO said.