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Antarctica's west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/13/antarcticas-west-coast-missing-an-area-of-sea-ice-the-size-of-france-as-temperatures-peak-20c-above-averageExclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing'
Graham Readfearn Environment and climate correspondent
Fri 12 Jun 2026 11.00 EDT
Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.
One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsular last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.
It’s winter in Antarctica, when sea ice expands rapidly around the continent peaking in September.
But satellite observations showed the Bellingshausen Sea – on the west side of the Antarctic peninsular and which by June would usually be covered by ice – was almost completely ice free.
…
Graham Readfearn Environment and climate correspondent
Fri 12 Jun 2026 11.00 EDT
Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.
One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsular last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.
It’s winter in Antarctica, when sea ice expands rapidly around the continent peaking in September.
But satellite observations showed the Bellingshausen Sea – on the west side of the Antarctic peninsular and which by June would usually be covered by ice – was almost completely ice free.
…
Reminder: 20°C above average = 36°F above average
Related:
https://aappartnership.org.au/miz-ing-in-action-how-much-of-antarctic-sea-ice-is-affected-by-waves/
‘MIZ-ing’ in action: how much of Antarctic sea ice is affected by waves?
28 May 2026
Using old satellite radar techniques, scientists have developed a new way of measuring the true extent of an under-studied and crucial region of the Antarctic sea-ice system for the first time.
The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) around Antarctica is the ‘outer edge’ of the sea ice, forming a nearly 200-kilometre-wide ring of ice floes affected by waves from the extremely rough Southern Ocean.
…
“The wave action makes the MIZ a highly dynamic region of intensive ocean-ice-atmosphere interaction, but before our study, we didn’t really know how the Antarctic MIZ varies seasonally in space and time,” Dr Fraser said.
Their analysis reveals that around 16% of the Antarctic sea-ice zone is wave-affected, and the inner limit of wave penetration is unrelated to sea-ice concentration, providing a more realistic picture of how the whole system works physically and biologically.
……
Fraser, A.D., Day,N., Wang, Z.et al. Revealing the Antarctic marginal ice zone with a decade-long wave-in-ice climatology. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73203-z28 May 2026
Using old satellite radar techniques, scientists have developed a new way of measuring the true extent of an under-studied and crucial region of the Antarctic sea-ice system for the first time.
The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) around Antarctica is the ‘outer edge’ of the sea ice, forming a nearly 200-kilometre-wide ring of ice floes affected by waves from the extremely rough Southern Ocean.
…
“The wave action makes the MIZ a highly dynamic region of intensive ocean-ice-atmosphere interaction, but before our study, we didn’t really know how the Antarctic MIZ varies seasonally in space and time,” Dr Fraser said.
Their analysis reveals that around 16% of the Antarctic sea-ice zone is wave-affected, and the inner limit of wave penetration is unrelated to sea-ice concentration, providing a more realistic picture of how the whole system works physically and biologically.
……