February 2025 brought a new negative record - the global sea ice area fell to the lowest level ever recorded. Scientists warn that the melting of the ice accelerates the warming of the planet and leads to more and more extreme weather events
The global sea ice area in February reached historic low, the European Climate Change Service Copernicus (C3S) announced.
The combined ice extent around the North and South Poles reached a daily minimum in early February and remained below the previous record for the rest of the month.
"One of the consequences of a warmer world is the melting of sea ice," says C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess, reports the Guardian.
The agency found that February sea ice extent in the Arctic was at the lowest monthly level ever recorded, at eight percent below average, while in Antarctica it was at the fourth lowest monthly level, at 26 percent below average. In total, this led to the lowest extent of global sea ice since the mid-20th century, as far back as the service's records go.
A very worrying situation
Already at the beginning of February, scientists noticed an extreme temperature deviation at the North Pole, which caused an increase in temperatures by more than 20°C above the average. They described the latest broken record as "particularly worrying" because the ice reflects sunlight and cools the planet.
"Lack of sea ice means darker ocean surfaces and increased absorption of sunlight, which accelerates warming," says Mika Rantanen, a climatologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
He added that a strong warming wave in the Arctic at the beginning of February prevented the normal growth of sea ice.
"I believe that this meteorological event, combined with long-term sea ice reduction due to anthropogenic climate change, was the main cause of the record low Arctic sea ice extent."
The global sea ice extent varies throughout the year, but usually reaches its annual minimum in February, when it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Record high temperatures
The negative sea ice extent record breaking comes after last year was confirmed as the warmest on record, about which "Vreme" wrote earlier.
The European Climate Change Service Copernicus also announced that February this year was the third warmest February ever recorded. Global temperatures were 1,59°C higher than pre-industrial levels, a trend that has been particularly evident over the past 20 months.
Richard Allan, a climatologist at the University of Reading, says the long-term forecast for Arctic sea ice is bleak.
"This region continues to warm rapidly and can only be saved by a rapid and drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions." It would also limit the increasing severity of weather extremes and the long-term rise of sea levels around the world," the scientist concludes.
Source: The Guardian
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