4 ms·

I didn't want to nitpick but why is that metric "at least 15% ice per square kilometer" ? Can the 15% from four square kilometers bunch up in one square kilome

• mikeyouse 3y ago
  That's not how sea ice works in general - the ice is 'centered' on the continent with 100% coverage and the edges are where you need to make a judgement call on whether they are covered or not. We've established an area grid encompassing the entire antarctic and measure the extent by seeing how many grids are at least 15% ice: https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_animation.gif https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_animati... but rest assured, we also measure the total sea ice area which removes all possibility of the 'bunching' you're concerned about -- it's similarly catastrophic; Compared to the past 10 years: https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_yearly_plot.png https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_yearly_... Compared to the past 45 years with low/high/average: https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_decadal_plot.png https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/polar/CSIC/SH_decadal...