The winter growth period for sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now over, with levels at a record low. The winter ice extent on 21 March 2025 was lower than at any time since continuous satellite recording began in 1979.
At 14.45 million square kilometers, winter sea ice cover is over a million square kilometers below the long-term average. As of February 2025, average Arctic sea ice cover remained at an all-time low for the entire month of March, equaling the previous low set in 2017.
The sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), offers the following analysis of developments in recent months: “In February, temperatures in some regions reached 16 °C above the past average, as the map of temperature anomalies shows. This will have reduced ice growth in some regions, with this effect evident in modeling and satellite data.”
Over the last 40 years, winter sea ice coverage has fallen by roughly 2.5% per decade, attesting to the long-term impact of climate change on Arctic sea ice.