Compare Images of Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Side-by-side
The images below show sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere. Select images from the popup menus to compare two images side-by-side.
Try this:
- compare the sea ice in February and September for the same year
- compare the sea ice in February for two different years
- compare the sea ice in September for two different years
- click here if you want to look at sea ice in the northern hemisphere
In the Southern Hemisphere (around the South Pole and Antarctica) the sea ice
reaches its maximum extent in early spring, at the end of the long, cold winter.
September is usually the month with the most sea ice.
The ice pack melts and breaks up over the summer. February is usually the month
with the least sea ice (in the Southern Hemisphere).
The pink line in the images shows the average (from 1979 to 2000) edge of the ice pack for a particular month.
Click here
to view an animation
of the annual changes in sea ice extent in the Southern Hemisphere for a seven-year
period (2002 through 2008). Click here
to see the predictions
that global climate models make about future changes in sea ice extent.
Go to the NSIDC web site to:
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