Arctic sea ice · updated 30 October 2026
Arctic sea ice extent today
Arctic sea ice extent on 30 October 2026: −1.77 million km² compared with the 1981–2010 average for the same day.
Arctic sea ice extent through the year (million km²)
September sea ice extent, 1979 to today (million km²)
Lowest September extents on record
- 2012: 3.57 million km²
- 2020: 4.00 million km²
- 2007: 4.27 million km²
- 2024: 4.35 million km²
- 2019: 4.36 million km²
What it means, according to scientists
The IPCC finds late-summer Arctic sea ice is smaller than at any time in at least the past 1,000 years, and that human influence is very likely the main driver of the decline since the late 1970s.
The Arctic is warming much faster than the global average. As bright ice is replaced by dark ocean, more sunlight is absorbed, which drives further warming — one of the clearest feedback loops in the climate system.
In every scenario the IPCC assessed, the Arctic is likely to be practically ice-free in September at least once before 2050. How often that happens afterwards depends on how much more warming we allow.
Sources: IPCC AR6 WG1 Summary for Policymakers (A.1.5, A.2.3, B.2.5);NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice News.
Frequently asked questions
How much Arctic sea ice is there today?
On 30 October 2026 Arctic sea ice covered 7.76 million km², 1.77 million km² below the 1981–2010 average for that date (NSIDC Sea Ice Index).
When will the Arctic be ice-free?
The IPCC projects that the Arctic is likely to be practically ice-free (below 1 million km²) in September at least once before 2050, in all emissions scenarios it assessed. Winter ice will remain for much longer.
Does melting sea ice raise sea levels?
Hardly. Sea ice already floats, so melting it barely changes sea level — unlike the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. But losing sea ice speeds up Arctic warming, because dark open water absorbs much more sunlight than white ice.
What is the difference between sea ice extent and area?
Extent counts every grid cell with at least 15% ice cover; area counts only the ice itself. Extent is the most widely reported measure and is what we show here.
When is the Arctic sea ice minimum?
Arctic sea ice usually reaches its smallest extent in mid-September and its largest in March. The yearly minimum is the clearest indicator of long-term loss.
Source:NSIDC Sea Ice Index, Version 4 (G02135)
Licence: Public domain (NOAA@NSIDC). Cite: Fetterer, F. et al., Sea Ice Index, Version 4, NSIDC.
Latest data: 30 October 2026 · Checked: 31 October 2026 ·Download CSV · Methodology