Missing Winter Sea Ice Off West Coast Of Antarctica Equal In Size To Area Of France
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 peninsula 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 peninsula and which by June would usually be covered by ice – was almost completely ice free.
Scientists said the region was missing about 650,000 sq kilometres (250,000 sq miles) of sea ice, compared with the average between 1991 and 2020. That is an area about the size of France and almost 10 times the size of Tasmania.
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The Bellingshausen Sea’s coastline was the site of tragedy in late 2022 when thousands of emperor penguin chicks died during a “catastrophic breeding failure” in four colonies. That event contributed to UN advisers pushing the species up two categories to “endangered” on its international threatened species list earlier this year. Dr Peter Fretwell, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey who has been documenting the penguin’s decline, said the current loss of sea ice in the region was “a serious problem for penguins, especially emperors”. “Sea ice is forming too late and breaking up too early. It leads to reduced breeding success and longer trips to moulting grounds.”
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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-average
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