Arctic ends winter with lowest sea ice cover on record – scientists
The new record shows how Arctic sea ice has ‘fundamentally changed’ from earlier decades, scientists said.
The Arctic has ended the winter with the lowest sea ice coverage on record, US scientists have said.
Arctic sea ice melts and regrows over the year, freezing throughout the winter months to reach a maximum extent in late February or March, then melting through the summer to hit a low point in early or mid-September.
Preliminary results suggest this year’s maximum extent of sea ice cover is the lowest in the 47-year satellite record, the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) at the University of Boulder, Colorado, in the US said.
Artic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.33 million square kilometres (5.53 million square miles) on March 22, the scientists said.
That is below the previous record low of 14.41 million square kilometres (5.56 million square miles) set on March 7 2017.
NSIDC senior research scientist Walt Meier said: “This new record low is yet another indicator of how Arctic sea ice has fundamentally changed from earlier decades.
“But even more importantly than the record low is that this year adds yet another data point to the continuing long-term loss of Arctic sea ice in all seasons.”
Arctic sea ice is in retreat in the face of human-driven climate change, with warnings the region could be classed as “ice-free” in September, when it reaches its minimum extent at the end of summer, in the 2020s or 2030s.
The melting of Arctic sea ice has a range of impacts, from increased warming by reducing the heat-reflecting capacity of the white ice, and coastal erosion, to putting pressure on wildlife such as polar bears, causing fish species to move and increasing human activity such as shipping.
The record low Arctic maximum extent follows a near-record-low minimum for Antarctic sea ice at the end of the region’s summer, set on March 1 2025.
The Antarctic ended the summer with sea ice covering 1.98 million square kilometres (764,000 square miles), putting it tied for the second lowest annual minimum in the satellite record, the NSIDC said.
