The Arctic just experienced its hottest year since record-keeping began more than a century ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday. Rising temperatures in the polar region show no signs of leveling off, either, according to the agency, which said they are rising twice as fast as overall global temperatures.
NOAA reviewed how the Arctic is faring in a warming world in the latest iteration of its annual Arctic Report Card.
"To observe the Arctic is to take the pulse of the planet," reads the report's executive summary. "The Arctic is warming several times faster than Earth as a whole, reshaping the northern landscapes, ecosystems, and livelihoods of Arctic peoples. Also transforming are the roles the Arctic plays in the global climate, economic, and societal systems."
Since the previous year's report card, climate change has continued to impact the Earth's northernmost area even more than the rest of the planet, NOAA said. The latest report details some of the most concerning developments observed over the last year, with scientists noting "a clear pattern of Arctic warming."
During the observational period, from October 2024 to September 2025, average sea surface temperatures measured in the Arctic were higher than the 1991-2020 average by as much as 13 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the report. Those were the warmest sea surface temperatures observed in the Arctic since at least 1900, signaling an intensifying climate pattern for the region.
In March, Arctic winter sea ice hit its lowest annual maximum extent in the 47 years of satellite data collection, and six months later, the ice reached its 10th lowest annual minimum. "All of the 19 lowest September minimum ice extents have occurred in the last 19 years," the report noted.
NOAA Arctic Report Card 2025 by NOAAPMEL on YouTube
Air temperatures increased, too. The autumn season of 2024 was the warmest on record, and the winter of 2025 ranked as the second-warmest, the report card said. Scientists also determined that Arctic temperatures since 2006 have increased at more than double the rate of global temperature changes. They have been warning for years that climate change is heating up the northern polar region more dramatically than anywhere else.
Vital ecosystems are being transformed as a result of the Arctic's persistent warmth, according to the report card. The heat is accelerating sea ice loss and glacier melt while transforming the region's landscapes. Its tundra, for example, has been turning green as thawed permafrost and longer summers give foliage more opportunities to grow.
Scientists emphasize that what happens to the Arctic directly affects the rest of the world, especially as sea ice minimums have continued to drop. Glaciers in Scandinavia saw their largest annual loss of ice on record between 2023 and 2024, and the Greenland Ice Sheet lost an estimated 129 billion tons of ice in 2025, according to NOAA, continuing an ongoing trend.
"Ongoing glacier loss contributes to steadily rising global sea levels, threatening Arctic communities' water supplies, driving destructive floods and increasing landslide and tsunami hazards that endanger people, infrastructure, and coastline," NOAA's report said.
Arctic melting foreshadows U.S. climate future
Arctic melting foreshadows America's climate future
(45:20)
