The maximum winter extent of the Arctic ice cap has recorded, for the second consecutive year, a particularly worrying figure. As of last 15 March, it reached just 14.29 million square kilometres: a figure similar to that of the winter of 2025, when it stood at 14.31 million. Since satellite measurements have been carried out regularly, i.e. since 1979, only in these two years has the surface area of the sea ice reached such reduced dimensions.

Not just a reduced extent: Arctic ice is also thinner

This is explained by a report published by Nasa, in collaboration with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (Nsidc) at the University of Colorado. The two institutions have also raised a second alarm: what concerns scientists is not only the reduced size of the ice cap, but also its thickness. "Based on satellite observations," explained Nathan Kurtz, head of the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at the US space agency, "we can conclude that much of the Arctic ice this year is thinner, especially in the Barents Sea, north-east of Greenland."

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The Arctic's winter sea ice shrank to a record-low level for the second year running, a sign of how climate change is reshaping the region bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

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Nasa has also specified that the extent of the ice cap — defined as such by taking into account areas where ice concentration is at least 15 per cent — was this year approximately 1.3 million square kilometres below the average for the period between 1981 and 2010.

Climate warming is more intense in the Arctic region

These figures only serve to confirm the impact of climate warming caused by human activities, starting with the burning of coal, oil and gas. And they are "very alarming", as declared to Carbon Brief by Zack Labe, a scientist at Climate Central. The rise in temperatures across land surfaces and oceans is not in fact uniform: for many years now it has been clear that it is precisely in the Arctic region that the phenomenon is most intense. With all that this entails both at a local and global level.

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'Very alarming' winter sees Arctic sea ice hit record-low for second year running |
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If indeed, as explained by Walt Meier, a researcher at Nsidc, "one or two years with low values do not necessarily mean anything", the long-term trend appears indisputable. The US space agency also highlights how, recently, a smaller amount of new ice has formed, which reduces the accumulation of multi-year ice.

Triggering a dangerous vicious cycle

As if that were not enough, the reduction in the white expanse of ice, which reflects the sun's rays, implies an increase in the area of exposed water. The latter is far darker, and consequently absorbs more heat, affecting the ice-albedo feedback and triggering a dangerous vicious cycle that further exacerbates climate change.