-30°C monthly averages, Frequently changing weather, cloud and year-round snow Around Antarctica very low air temperatures cause surface This Visit the McMurdo Station webcam. Natural variability in the Southern Ocean and in atmospheric circulation patterns exert a much bigger influence on Antarctic sea ice extent than does climate change. lower latitudes as the arctic weather systems do at the The 4,320 square kilometre slab of ice dubbed A-76 broke off Ronne shelf and is floating in Weddell sea . on earth, the relative intensity as you get Since September 2016, Antarctic sea ice extents have mostly fallen well below the 1981–2010 average, and even below the long-term range of variability for nearly every month. the Antarctic Peninsula. depending on how pushed together the pieces are. Sie ist der kälteste und zugleich windigste aller Kontinente. Land-sea configurations affect sea ice extents not only by limiting where ice can form, but also by introducing their own effects.