Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent per month 1980-2024

In June 2024, the sea ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere reached 10.9 million square kilometers, a decrease of 10.7 percent from 1980, when the extent was just above 12 million square kilometers during the same month. This decline underscores a concerning trend for sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere, with potential far-reaching implications for climate and ecosystems.

Causes and consequences of sea ice melting

The drastic reduction of the ice sheet in the Arctic Sea has been attributed to climate change and the increase in temperatures in past years, causing an abnormal change in ocean heat content worldwide and a subsequent melting scenario . Additionally, weather patterns are changing and becoming more unpredictable, disturbing snowfall and therefore impeding the melted ice from recovering.

A substantial ice loss affects local ecosystems and contributes to rising sea levels and coastal erosion. Furthermore, disruptions in the amount of sea ice can perturb normal ocean circulation, leading to additional disturbances in the climate across the globe.

The south is also changing

After decades of apparent no-clear variability in the sea ice extent in the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic sea ice has shown alarming signs in 2023. That year, the average monthly sea ice extent in Antarctica reported a record low, falling to 16.8 million square kilometers in September, the month when the highest extent is normally reached. If a downward trend in the south forms in the coming years, it will aggravate the effects of sea ice melting that the planet is already experiencing.