Antarctic Sea Ice Fails; A 5 Standard Deviation Event - Natural Occurance 1 In 7.5 Million Years

"For those of you who are interested in statistics, this is a five-sigma event. So it's five standard deviations beyond the mean. Which means that if nothing had changed, we'd expect to see a winter like this about once every 7.5 million years." Edward Doddridge, Physical Oceanographer, Research Associate Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, UTAS, and a Theme Leader in the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP).

Antarctica's sea ice has yet to recover this winter for the first time in millions of years, baffling ocean and atmospheric scientists according to reporting published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Earlier this year, the extreme decline in sea ice around the crucial ice continent that regulates the Earth's climate was observed. This year's ice decline was not the first time the phenomenon was witnessed. There were all-time lows in 2016, 2017, and 2022, but the sea ice recovered in those years. The fear is that the ice will not recover this year even though the continent is in a dark and bitterly cold winter. That is a problem and portends a worsening decline in the critical climate regulator.

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Even with record-breaking cold temperatures, the Antarctic’s sea ice has still not recovered. The damage is happening below the surface. Some call this a result of deep ocean heat. Minus 82.7 Celsius is Minus 116.86 Fahrenheit.

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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/25/2183221/-A-once-in-a-7-5-million-year-event-in-Antarctica-gobsmacks-climate-experts