Floating ice off Antarctic plummeting

Experts baffled whether the cause is just natural blip or long-term global warming

WASHINGTON - The amount of ice circling Antarctica is suddenly plunging from a record high to record lows, baffling scientists.

Floating ice off the southern continent steadily increased from 1979 and hit a record high in 2014. But three years later, the annual average extent of Antarctic sea ice hit its lowest mark, wiping out three-and-a-half decades of gains - and then some, a NASA study of satellite data shows.