Though sea ice extent increased slightly in April, up to 5.4 million square miles compared to 5.33 million square miles as of Feb. 27, the trends are now consistent with seasonal ice decrease ...

So, understanding their evolution could help scientists better forecast future seasonal sea ice extent. But melt ponds have always been hard to see — especially on satellite images.

Arctic sea ice reached a record low in March 2025, marking the lowest extent in the 47-year satellite record. The shrinking sea ice, attributed to rising global temperatures from burning fossil ...

Arctic sea ice extent, or area, has declined overall since satellite surveillance began in the late 1970s. Comparing sea ice on two random days doesn't provide any meaningful information about ...

Arctic sea ice had its weakest winter buildup since record-keeping began 47 years ago, a symptom of climate change that will have repercussions globally, scientists said Thursday. The Arctic ...

Since 1979, Arctic sea ice extent, a term that describes the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice, has been reduced by 40% in the late summer months. Global climate models have consistently ...

The graph above shows daily Arctic sea ice extent as of September 13, 2011, along with daily ice extents for previous three lowest years for the minimum ice extent. Light blue indicates 2011, dashed ...

The 2019 maximum extent breaks a string of record or near-record lows that started in 2015 — but that does not necessarily mean that Arctic sea ice is recovering.

The five lowest Arctic winter sea ice extents in have all happened since 2015. Meanwhile in Antarctica, there was nearly a record low extent after it underwent its summer melt period, but it didn't ...