Maximum Extent of Antarctic Sea Ice in 1979 (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Maximum Extent of Antarctic Sea Ice in 1979

Caption

Sea ice surrounding Antarctica has been expanding since the beginning of the satellite record in 1979, reaching a new record extent of over 7.72 million square miles on Sept. 19, 2014. Still, this upward trend pales in comparison to the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic. This map shows the maximum extent of Antarctic sea ice in 1979 as observed by satellite. October is typically the global maximum for sea ice, largely because of the vast extent of Antarctic ice at that time.

Credit

NASA's Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens and Jesse Allen

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