Shrinking Antarctic sea ice is making a key ocean layer saltier

Researchers from IISc, the University of Melbourne and the University of Southampton found that Antarctic Intermediate Water, which spreads into the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, has grown saltier and denser since 2015 after decades of freshening. They link the reversal to sharply reduced sea ice and less meltwater, warning it could disrupt ocean layering and let stored carbon escape more easily.