Arctic sea ice levels second lowest on record for January: US data
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Both the North and South Pole regions have warmed by some 3 deg C compared with late 19th-century levels, much faster than the global average.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – In 2025, the sea ice in the Arctic was the second lowest on record for January, according to a US analysis released on Feb 4, with areas around Greenland seeing temperatures well above average.
Both the North and South Pole regions have warmed by some 3 deg C compared with late 19th-century levels, much faster than the global average.
The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) said the Arctic sea ice surface area was at a record low in December and continued near record lows during January. It said the surface in January averaged 13.13 million sq km.
“In contrast to the cold conditions dominating the contiguous United States, much of the Arctic experienced above-average January temperatures,” the NSIDC said.
This was particularly marked north of Greenland and over central Alaska, the report said, with temperatures as much as 8 deg C above average for the month.
Greenland is located between the US and Europe, in a region of increasing strategic value as the melting of Arctic sea ice opens up new shipping routes.
President Donald Trump has signalled that he wants the Arctic island
In 2024, annual surface air temperatures in the Arctic were the second warmest on record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Rising temperatures melt sea ice, which in turn contributes to accelerated warming in the region as dark seawater absorbs more solar radiation and thus helps to heat up the atmosphere, further accelerating the melting of the ice.
In a 2023 study, researchers found that the Arctic Ocean’s ice cap would likely disappear in summer as soon as the 2030s and a decade earlier than thought, no matter how aggressively humanity draws down the carbon pollution that drives global warming.
The retreating ice also has a major impact on polar bears
A study published in the journal Science last week found that around half of the decline in Canada’s Hudson Bay polar bears from 1979 to 2021 was due to climate-driven sea ice loss. AFP
