News Environment Fires in the Amazon forest may melt sea ice in Antarctica Soot traveling in atmospheric corridors could have darkened the sea ice, boosting its melting  Antarctica’s Weddell Sea (pictured) saw particularly large sea ice loss between 2018 and 2019 — loss that may be linked to increased soot in the atmosphere from fires in the Amazon. John Sonntag/NASA By Meghie Rodrigues 1 hour ago Soot from forest fires in the Amazon might play a role in the melting of faraway ice in Antarctica. For decades, scientists have known that black carbon from burning fossil fuels or forests accelerates ice melt in different parts of the world. According to remote sensing researcher Sudip Chakraborty, the slash-and-burn practices encouraged by Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who held office from 2019 to 2023, inspired his team to investigate whether black carbon from the Amazon affected ice melt in Antarctica. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.