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Antarctic Sea Ice Nears Record Low for Winter

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12 Sep, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

For a second consecutive year, sea ice around Antarctica is nearing a record low for the winter season. 

Scientists at the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) announced that the Antarctic sea ice coverage has reached a new low point for winter, even surpassing the levels of 2023, which were the lowest since satellite records began.

“In 2023, the winter extreme was outside everybody’s expectations — not just due to its sheer magnitude, but because it’s the wrong time of year. In winter the ocean should be freezing,” scientist Will Hobbs explained in a statement. “While the summer sea ice of 2024 was largely within the ‘normal’ variability, this winter we’ve again seen chaotic fluctuations similar to last year, now producing the lowest winter extreme on record.”

The scientists determined that warming ocean temperatures are to blame, but they are still determining whether this level of warming in the short-term is “just a blip” or can be confirmed as a result of climate change, Hobbs said.

“We know that the past two years have been the warmest on record for the planet, with global temperatures more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial for extended periods,” Hobbs said. “This global warmth is now reflected in the oceans around the Antarctic, and is likely a major factor in continuing record low sea ice.”

As The Guardian reported, the ice coverage in the Southern Ocean reached 17 million square kilometers over the weekend. In 2023, the winter ice coverage reached 17.1 million square kilometers, compared to a long-term average of 18.4 million square kilometers for this time of year. 

However, the Antarctic winter season is not yet over, as it ranges from March to October, and scientists are concerned about whether the ice will increase before the end of the season.

“While it’s still too early to say whether winter sea ice has reached its maximum this year, it’s startling that the extent has dropped so low again — almost like the sea ice is being dissuaded from growing!” said Phil Reid, climate analyst at the Bureau of Meteorology, a partner of AAPP.

Earlier this year, NASA reported that Antarctic sea ice coverage was reaching record lows for the third year in a row, revealing longer term changes to the Southern Ocean. According to NASA, summer 2024 sea ice in the Antarctic dipped to a low of 1.99 million square kilometers on Feb. 20, 2024, about 30% lower than the average end-of-summer ice coverage from 1981 to 2010.

An eroded iceberg in Antarctica on Feb. 22, 2024. Sebnem Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images

Now, scientists are working to deepen their understandings of how the decrease in sea ice and changes in ocean temperatures can also impact weather and climate.

“For example, recent studies suggest that reduced sea-ice extent may lead to an increase in occurrence and duration of summer-time wet extremes over Australia, and, conversely, longer periods of dry days during winter,” Reid explained.

“It is a gap in the knowledge of our sea-ice environment that we need to fill, because our polar environments are changing rapidly,” said Reid continued.

The post Antarctic Sea Ice Nears Record Low for Winter appeared first on EcoWatch.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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