Synergistic atmosphere-ocean-ice influences have driven the 2023 all-time Antarctic sea-ice record low

Abstract

Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) reached a new record low in February 2023. Here we examine the evolution of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice system during the 12 months preceding the record. The impact of preceding conditions is assessed with observations, reanalyses, and output from the regional ocean-sea ice coupled model NEMO3.6-LIM3. We find that the 2022-2023 sea ice annual cycle was characterized by consistently low SIE throughout the year, anomalously rapid sea ice retreat in December 2022, and nearly circumpolar negative SIE anomalies in February 2023. While advection-induced positive air temperature anomalies inhibited the sea ice growth in most regions, strong southerly winds in the Amundsen-Ross Sea caused by an anomalously deep Amundsen Sea Low in spring transported notable volumes of sea ice northward, triggering an unusually active ice-albedo feedback onshore and favoring accelerated melt towards the minimum. This study highlights the impacts of multifactorial processes during the preceding seasons to explain the recent summer sea ice minima.