Antarctic sea ice rebounds in 2026, nearing average after four years. Really!

I believe, the shrinking of the Antarctic ice cover was also used as "evidence" for global warming/climate change. However, it appears the ice cover naturally varies from year to year or so.

Notice satellite measurement data only goes back to 1979!

"The area covered by Antarctic sea ice likely reached its annual minimum level at 2.58 million square kilometers (996,000 square miles) on Feb. 26, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Every year Antarctic sea ice reaches a minimum level during the Southern Hemisphere's summer, so this is the point that scientists measure it for annual readings.

This year's level ranks as the 16th smallest since satellite measurements began in 1979.

The 2026 minimum sea ice extent is closer to average than in the past four years, and 730,000 square kilometers above the record low set in February 2023, the scientists said. ...

This year's return to less extreme conditions is not unexpected given the large year-to-year variation of Antarctic sea ice seen in the satellite record," said Walt Meier, scientist at the NASA NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center."

Antarctic sea ice rebounds in 2026, nearing average after four years "Antarctic sea ice coverage has likely rebounded this year, coming closer to its annual summer average after four years of extreme lows, US scientists said Monday."