WASHINGTON - The amount of ice circling Antarctica is suddenly plunging from a record high to record lows, baffling scientists. But three years later, the annual average extent of Antarctic sea ice hit its lowest mark, wiping out three-and-a-half decades of gains — and then some, a NASA study of satellite data shows. Around Antarctica, sea ice averaged 4.9 million square miles (12.8 million square kilometres) in 2014. Antarctic sea ice increased slightly in 2018, but still was the second lowest since 1979. Non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science often had pointed at increasing Antarctic sea ice to deny or downplay the loss of Arctic sea ice.

Source: thestar July 01, 2019 19:18 UTC