Alarming retreat of sea ice; do we care?

Plunging deeper into the climate crisis, Antarctic sea ice experienced record low levels for the second time in two years by dropping to merely 7,37,000 square miles (1.91 million square kilometers) on February 13, as per the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Man and his recklessness know no boundaries. Greed of mankind, vicious plans of some developed countries to annex everything around us including space has resulted in a mad race that defies all logic.

Exactly a year ago, the levels fell to 7,41,000 square miles (1.92 million square kilometers). These two years are significant indicators of worsening climate change and its impact on the region, as they are the only time that levels of sea ice have dipped lower than 2 million square kilometers since 1978, when satellites began recording data. It's "not just barely a record low. It's on a very steep downward trend," Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, told the media.

Scientists have always been warning us that the Antarctic sea ice has experienced an unstable trajectory, unlike the Arctic, where the rate of the loss has been consistently on a downward path. This is because the two cold regions are very different in nature. While the Arctic is an ocean with continents situated all around it, Antarctica is a continent that is surrounded by the ocean, which allows sea ice to grow outward. What really concerns everyone is the probable reason behind the low sea ice levels? The ice of the two regions also varies, with Antarctic ice often being thinner than that of the Arctic. The latest two record lows have left scientists worried, with some wondering if this is the "beginning of the end."

The question is has climate change reached Antarctica? Is this the beginning of the end? Will the sea ice disappear for good in the coming years in the summer? These are just some of those questions staring at our faces now. The steep drop in sea ice levels can be attributed to a number of reasons such as ocean currents, ocean heat, and winds.

In the Antarctic, air temperatures have been warmer than usual, and about 1.5 degree Celsius above the average. Furthermore, westerly winds in the region, known as the Southern Annular Mode, are known to pump warm air. This certainly is not the Earth we know. Only, it was not so long ago, say some 50 years ago, we were not even bothered about these developments. In the name of scientific development and industrial gains, we simply have thrown caution to the winds.

All that we ever bothered about is how those things would impact us. Not for once, we had thought about how it would impact Mother Earth. Reckless manipulation and exploitation of all the five elements has brought us to this stage. The main problem with us is that we don't act unless our actions result in large scale deaths. We have seen the same during the COVID-19 times. Mother Earth cleansed herself a lot during the two years to rejuvenate herself a bit.

But no lessons were learnt. Stop talking about Climate Change and Global Warming etc. These have already taken place. Only a civilization in reverse gear might help us. Pause and think.