Each year, Arctic sea ice expands as the sea surface freezes during the long, dark winter. At its maximum in March, the ice covers nearly the entire Arctic Ocean, almost 6 million square miles.

Today the Arctic is still a site of peril and promise. A new race to the North Pole is under way, as politicians dream of ...

more of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the dark ocean, which accelerates global heating. Part of the reason for the recent run of record-low sea ice is the unusual heat in the Arctic ...

Loss of sea ice has consequences far beyond the Arctic. Today, the vast white expanse of this ice reflects 80 percent of the sun’s energy back into space. Without it, the dark open ocean will ...

As the Arctic loses snow cover and sea ice, more dark-colored ocean water and rock emerge. Those dark surfaces reflect less radiation back to space, absorbing heat, instead. In addition ...

keeping the Arctic cool, while large dark areas of open ocean absorb abundant solar energy, which triggers more ice melt and delays the autumn refreeze. Melt ponds sitting atop the sea ice absorb ...

Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent for ... The year 2025 is shown with a dark blue line, 2024 with a medium blue line and 2023 with a light blue line. Data source: EUMETSAT OSI ...