# France-Sized Slab of Antarctic Ice Vanishes in the Dead of Winter as Temperatures Spike 20°C — Are Coastal Cities Next?

> About 650,000 sq km of sea ice — an area the size of France — has disappeared from Antarctica's Bellingshausen Sea in the middle of winter, with temperatures running over 20°C above normal. Scientists warn of grave danger to glaciers, penguins and the world's coastal cities.

**Category:** World · **Published:** 2026-06-13 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/world/antarkatika-men-sardiyon-ke-bicha-pighala-gai-phransa-jitani-barpha-para-20-digr-496

The images coming out of Antarctica this season have left climate scientists deeply unsettled. At the very time of year when a thick layer of ice should be locking up the coast, a huge stretch of the continent's western edge is sitting almost completely bare. Satellite pictures show that the patch of the Bellingshausen Sea that ought to be frozen solid right now is instead showing open water — a fresh and frightening signal of how fast global warming is moving.

## Where Did a France-Sized Sheet of Winter Ice Go?
Antarctica is currently in the grip of its winter season. Ordinarily these are the months when ice thickens rapidly in every direction, building up until it peaks around September. But this year the figures that landed in scientists' hands in June stunned everyone. The entire Bellingshausen Sea region is appearing almost ice-free.

According to research, roughly 650,000 square kilometres of ice has gone missing from this region — an area as large as the total landmass of France, one of Europe's biggest countries. Dr. Will Hobbs, an ice specialist at the University of Tasmania, is gravely worried by the situation. ‘June without this ice here is extremely troubling,’ he said.

What makes it more alarming is that this is the third time in the past four years that ice levels have dropped this low. Experts fear the region may now struggle to refreeze as easily as before, and they point to the rising temperature of the ocean water as the main culprit.

## Is the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ on the Brink?
The floating sheets of sea ice actually act as a protective shield for the enormous glaciers sitting behind them. When that shield stays missing for long stretches, the glaciers are far more likely to break apart quickly. Just to the west of the Bellingshausen Sea lie the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers.

The Thwaites glacier is known around the world as the ‘Doomsday Glacier’, and it ranks among the fastest-melting ice masses in all of Antarctica. Dr. Phil Reid of Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says that when ice disappears from these coastal areas, the rate at which the glaciers melt multiplies many times over.

That has a direct knock-on effect on sea levels across the globe. As the water rises quickly, the risk of many of the world's major coastal cities being swallowed grows sharply — and a single shift like this could upend the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

## Why Are Penguins and Marine Life Facing a Death Threat?
The most heartbreaking price of this vanishing ice is being paid by the region's wildlife. The coast of the Bellingshausen Sea is regarded as a major home for penguins. At the end of 2022 a major tragedy struck here, when the ice melted ahead of schedule and thousands of emperor penguin chicks died.

Dr. Peter Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey has been studying this decline continuously. According to him, ‘Late-forming and early-breaking ice is a serious problem for penguins.’ As a result, the survival and breeding success rate of penguin chicks has fallen dramatically. That is why advisers to the United Nations have placed the emperor penguin in the ‘Endangered’ category on the international list of threatened species.

The crisis is not limited to emperor penguins. Numbers of the Adelie penguin are also dropping fast. In summer, seals are being forced to migrate to other places in search of safe ground. Meanwhile the hiding places for krill have been wiped out entirely — and these very krill are considered the single most important link in Antarctica's entire food web.

## What Is Behind the Record-Breaking Winter Heat?
Alongside the disappearing ice, temperatures in the region have set a dangerous record of their own. Argentina's Esperanza Base recorded unusual warmth on 5 and 6 June, when the maximum temperature climbed to 15.4°C and 13.4°C respectively.

The startling part is that the normal average temperature for this region in June is minus 6.2°C. In other words, the mercury soared more than 20°C above what is usual. The previous June record here was 13.3°C, set back in 1998 — a mark that has now been left behind.

## The Story of a Changing Continent, Told in Numbers
Antarctica's current state is laid bare by a handful of key figures that reveal just how fast global warming is accelerating.

- **Area of missing ice:** roughly 650,000 sq km — a region as large as the country of France.
- **Record temperature:** 15.4°C at Esperanza Base in June 2026.
- **Normal average temperature:** minus 6.2°C for this region in June.
- **Total sea-ice shortfall:** on 10 June the whole continent held 11.4 million sq km of ice, against a historical average that should have been 12.6 million.
- **Impact on wildlife:** the emperor penguin species has now been declared ‘Endangered’ on the international list of threatened species.

All these signals point in one direction — the change sweeping across the planet's coldest continent is not Antarctica's problem alone, but a warning for the entire Earth.

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