Posted on 9 September 2025 by Sue Bin Park

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Has Arctic sea ice recovered?

Arctic sea ice, in both extent and volume, continues to decline.

The only fair comparison for Arctic sea ice is to a full 12 months prior, as ice accumulates each winter and melts each summer.

By that metric, Arctic sea ice extent set a record low maximum in March 2025, the month when ice is at its highest. Arctic sea ice volume for July 2025 was the 5th lowest on record.

There are two types of sea ice: thin “first-year” ice and thick “multi-year” ice. First-year ice grows and shrinks with the seasons and fluctuations in ocean currents and wind patterns.

These short-term ups and downs do not change the decline of multi-year ice. Satellite records since 1979 show continued loss in both extent and volume of multi-year ice. 

Since that year, June ice extent loss has totaled more than 3 million square kilometers, nearly twice the size of Alaska.

Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact

This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.

Sources

NSIDC Sea Ice Today

NSIDC Sea Ice - Science

Polar Science Center PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reanalysis

NSIDC The peak of summer, the depths of winter

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer "yes/no" answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here.