Geophysical Research Letters · 27 September 2026 · From issue 43
Unprecedented Open‐Ocean Polynya in Breid Bay, East Antarctica in Winter 2024
In Antarctica, storms and rising warm water opened a huge hole in winter sea ice.
Jeebanjyoti Swain, Babula Jena et al.
A giant hole opened in the winter sea ice near Antarctica in August 2024. It covered about 89,121 square kilometers of open ocean, an area bigger than many countries. Six powerful storms carried warm, wet air toward Antarctica and stopped new ice from forming. At the same time, warm ocean water rose up from below and heated the surface by about 0.6 degrees Celsius, melting even more ice.
The size of the open-ocean hole that formed in Antarctic winter sea ice in August 2024.
One event, one location, one winter studied so far.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 30 September 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Geophysical Research Letters). Read the source
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