Antarctic sea ice is on track to be at extreme deficit for the second consecutive winter. In response, polar scientists are calling for urgent global action and a commitment towards the Antarctica InSync programme. The Call for Action is an outcome of the School on Polar Climates: Theoretical, Observational and Modelling Advances, which ran from 22 to 27 July at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy.
Antarctica InSync is a year-round observational programme endorsed by the United Nations’ Ocean Decade to conduct synchronous scientific observations to better understand the Antarctic and Southern Ocean coupled system. The observations are scheduled to be conducted in 2027-2029.
“Multi-national design and coordination are required to ensure circum-Antarctic and year-round observations, and a joint research synthesis is needed to deliver robust and impactful outcomes. Effective integration of the full suite of observations from in situ, autonomous and remotely sensed methods will be essential, as well as early networking between observational and numerical modelling experts to agree on a basic set of sea-ice and other relevant observables to be obtained during individual Antarctica InSync initiatives,” the official press release said.
Click here to read the full statement.
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