Arctic ice pack

Sea ice levels in Antarctica have registered historic lows for three consecutive years, portending grave consequences for life on Earth as we know it.

But looking out over the southernmost continent, scientist Miguel Angel de Pablo laments that humanity seems to be oblivious to the warnings.

Sea ice in Antarctica shrank to the smallest area on record in February for the second year in a row, continuing a decade-long decline, the European Union's climate monitoring service said March 7.

Last month saw the lowest extent of Antarctic sea ice on record for July, according to the European Union's satellite monitoring group.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found Antarctic sea ice extent reached 15.3 million square kilometers - some 1.1 million km2, or seven percent, below the 1991-2020 average for July.

Three Russian navy submarines punched their way through several feet of sea ice in the Arctic to surface simultaneously within a few hundred feet of each other — one of the first times the tricky naval maneuver has been achieved.

Both the Arctic and Antarctica saw below mean sea ice cover in the last month compared to the 1981-2010 average, the European Union's climate change body said on March 10.

Polar bear numbers could drop a third by mid-century, according to the first systematic assessment, released Dec. 7, of how dwindling Arctic sea ice affects the world's largest bear.