Arctic Sea Ice Hits Lowest Ever Winter Peak in 2025 Raising Alarms Over Global Climate Shifts
The Arctic winter sea ice has hit an unprecedented low in 2025, reaching 14.33 million square kilometres the smallest winter maximum ever recorded since satellite monitoring began in 1979, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
This year’s peak, reached on March 22 is lower than the previous record of 14.41 million sq km set in 2017 and a massive 1.32 million sq km below the 1981–2010 average. The "missing ice" area is larger than the entire state of California, a striking reminder of the planet’s rapid warming.
At the same time, Antarctica clocked its second-lowest sea ice minimum 1.98 million sq km on March 1 making February 2025 the month with the least global sea ice coverage ever recorded.
According to experts, this Arctic record is more than a s...