Vol. 9, Issue 5, Part D (2023)

Abstract
Using a 43-year long record of satellite passive-microwave measurements during 1979-2021, sea ice extent analyses on monthly, seasonal, inter-annual and decadal timescales are carried out for the Southern Hemisphere (SH). We present monthly averaged sea ice extents, monthly deviations, yearly and seasonal averages, and their trends for the SH. It exhibits largest positive trend in autumn (9.6 ±7.5 10³ km² yr⁻¹) and negative trend in spring (-1.7±7.3 10³ km² yr⁻¹). Temperatures (sea surface and air) anomaly data suggest that the Antarctica region has experienced cooling trends in the last four decades, but drastic change occurred post-2016 resulting in melting of sea ice in few regions of Antarctica. The sea ice increase in the last decade (pre-2015) may be linked to the cooling processes supplemented by the cumulative effect of ocean currents, winds and other ocean-atmospheric parameters. On other hand decrease in sea ice post-2015 has been observed in some regional sectors of Antarctic.