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Antarctic sea ice has likely reached its minimum extent for the year, at 1.98 million square kilometers (764,000 million square miles) on March 1, 2025, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2025 minimum is effectively tied with 2022 and 2024 for second lowest in the 47-year satellite record. It is 190,000 square kilometers (73,000 square miles) above the record low, set in 2023. The last four minimums have been the lowest on record.

On March 1, Antarctic sea ice likely reached its minimum extent of 1.98 million square kilometers (764,000 square miles), tying for second lowest extent with 2022 and 2024 in the 47-year satellite record. This is the fourth consecutive year that Antarctic sea ice has reached a minimum below 2.0 million square miles (772,000 square miles).

Arctic sea ice growth was slow in February, leaving extent at record-low levels for the end of the month. In the Antarctic, the annual minimum in extent is imminent, and near a record low.

A new study focuses on improving global temperature data sets in light of uneven warming across the globe. To fill gaps in historical climate records, the study relies in part on sea ice data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NOAA@NSIDC).

A new review paper, led by NSIDC senior research scientist Julienne Stroeve and published in Science on February 6, 2025, highlights the changes that will occur in the Arctic by 2100 because of global warming, and their far-reaching implications.