The Antarctic ice sheet has shrunk to the smallest surface area on record in another sign that the accelerating pace of climate change is hitting some of the coldest regions the hardest.
The ice surrounding the continent has retreated to 1.97 million square kilometers, preliminary satellite data from the National Sea Ice Data Center in Colorado showed on Monday. That’s below the previous record of 2.1 million square kilometers set in 2017.
"It is terrifying to witness this frozen ocean melting down,” said Laura Meller, a polar adviser with nonprofit organization Greenpeace. "The consequences of these changes extend to the whole planet, impacting marine food webs around the globe.”