Antarctic sea ice hardly changed in size in past 100 years, say climate scientists

A new research claims that the area of ice around Antarctica has hardly changed in size over the past 100 years. The climate scientists even claim that the continent has lost only 14 percent of its summer sea ice since 1900.

A journal called The Cryosphere suggests that the Antarctic sea ice is less sensitive to climate change impacts compared to the Arctic.

"The missions of Scott and Shackleton are remembered in history as heroic failures, yet the data collected by these and other explorers could profoundly change the way we view the ebb and flow of Antarctic sea ice," said Jonathan Gray, the lead author of the study.

Citing satellite observations, Gray further said that sea ice in the Antarctic has slightly increased in the past 30 years. "Scientists have been grappling to understand this trend in the context of global warming, but these new findings suggest it may not be anything new," he said.

The research stated that the levels in the early 1900s were similar to today, at between 5.3 and 7.4 million square kilometres. However, Weddell Sea did have a significantly larger ice cover.

"The Southern Ocean is largely a black hole as far as historical climate change data is concerned, but future activities planned to recover data from naval and whaling ships will help us to understand past climate variations and what to expect in the future," Gray said.