Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Antarctic sea ice hits another near-record low

2025 Antarctic sea ice minimum reached on March 1, tied for second lowest in the 47-year record

News from NSIDC

A setting sun illuminates a cloudy sky with colors of pink, purple, orange, and yellow. Sea ice covers the water.
Sunset over sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea, near the coast of Antarctica.
- Glenn Grant/CIRES

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.

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