Unprecedented Decline in Arctic Ice Levels Continues

A research institution affiliated with NASA announced that the decline in sea ice levels in the Arctic region has once again set a record this past winter, reaching a worse state than previous statistics from winter 2015; this comes as the natural melting season for ice is set to begin in spring. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, an organization affiliated with the U.S. space agency, the area of floating ice in the Arctic has decreased by 35,000 square miles, reaching 5.57 million square miles on March 7 (two weeks before the end of winter): a figure lower than the last record of unprecedented decline recorded two years ago. Scientists say the current unprecedented decline is occurring as spring and summer begin, which are natural melting seasons, and this year may increase the level of 'ice-free seas.' Mark Serreze, director of the Snow and Ice Data Center, told reporters, 'We are now losing Arctic ice in all seasons.' The situation in the other pole of the Earth is not better; in Antarctica, which is currently passing through the melting season, the amount of melted ice is greater than at any time recorded. However, the trends of ice level increase and decrease in Antarctica do not show a clear pattern, unlike the Arctic, where the decline has become a consistent trend. From the perspective of scientists and researchers, a combination of natural climatic phenomena and global warming attributed to human activity has led to the current state of sea ice. Mark Serreze stated that the winters of 2016 and 2017 were unusually warm, and the Arctic faced three severe heat waves. Sea ice is frozen seawater that remains floating on the surface due to its lower density compared to water. The Arctic is an area surrounding the North Pole, including parts of Russia, Alaska, Greenland, or Canada, as well as areas in northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and the Arctic Ocean (or the Frozen Ocean). The Arctic covers about 17% of the Earth's surface. The melting of glaciers and polar ice can lead to phenomena that scientists have warned about; for example, rising sea levels that could submerge areas of the Earth. Two years ago, scientists warned that the melting of ice and glaciers, and their movement towards lower latitude geographical areas, has caused 'the slowing of the Earth's rotation.'