Antarctic Sea Ice Grows to Highest Recorded Extent

Antarctica may be expanding rather than contracting. NASA has found that the sea ice surrounding Antarctica reached a new record high extent this year, covering more of the southern oceans than it has since scientists began recording.

"The planet as a whole is doing what was expected in terms of warming," said Claire Parkinson, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a news release. "Sea ice as a whole is decreasing as expecte, but just like with global warming, not every location with sea ice will have a downward trend in ice extent."

Since the 1970s, the Arctic has lost an average of about 20,800 square miles of ice each year. The Antarctic has actually gained an average of 7,300 square miles. On Sept. 19 this year, the Antarctic sea ice extent exceeded 7.72 million square miles for the first time since recording becan. This extent stayed above this benchmark for several days.

"The winds really play a big role," said Walt Meier, one of the researchers. These winds whip around the continent, constantly pushing thin ice. If they change direction or become stronger, then they push the ice and grow its extent. When researchers measure ice extent, they look for areas of ocean where at least 15 percent of it is covered by sea ice.

Scientists have seen some stronger-than-normal pressure systems increasing winds over the last month. However, this element alone probably doesn't explain this year's record extent. Currently, researchers are looking into other possibilities for this phenomenon. The findings will hopefully explain why this ice is growing in the Antarctic while shrinking in the Arctic.

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