Global sea ice levels hit worrying new low

Last month saw the lowest global sea ice cover for any February on record in a stark reminder of how our planet is warming, new data reveal.

Sea ice is the frozen seawater that floats on the ocean's surface. As the planet warms, the amount of sea ice declines. In February 2025, sea ice around the poles reached an "all-time minimum" when compared with previous Februaries (records began in 1979), according to a statement from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

"One of the consequences of a warmer world is melting sea ice, and the record or near-record low sea ice cover at both poles has pushed global sea ice cover to an all-time minimum," Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which implements the Copernicus program, said in the statement.

Sea ice loss has the potential to trigger a cascade of adverse environmental impacts, including for the human and wildlife communities living on it. The melting also accelerates global warming even further as the newly exposed ocean beneath reflects less sunlight than bright ice does.

Related: Scientists identify tipping point for Greenland's ice sheet — and it's not far off

Copernicus publishes monthly updates on sea ice cover and global temperatures, so its assessments are based on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations worldwide, according to the statement.

Last month, Copernicus scientists announced that January 2025 was the warmest January on record, even though Earth had entered La Niña, the cold phase of the El Niño climate pattern. The latest report revealed that February 2025 was the third warmest February on record. So it wasn't a record-breaker in that respect, but it did continue a worrying warming trend.

February 2025 was, on average, 2.86 degrees Fahrenheit (1.59 Celsius) warmer than preindustrial levels — the estimated average temperature between 1850 and 1900. World leaders previously promised to limit warming to preferably below 2.7 F (1.5 C) and well below 3.6 F (2 C) in the 2015 Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty. However, Earth is now consistently above the 2.7 F target, with February 2025 the 19th month out of the past 20 to breach 2.7 F.

Temperatures fluctuate from year to year, so climate change doesn't mean that every new month is guaranteed to break records. However, there is a clear overall trend of the planet getting warmer and warmer. Last year was the first complete year to breach 2.7 F and ended up as the hottest year on record since preindustrial levels.

Not all parts of the planet get warmer at the same rate. Last month, severe winter storms blasted the U.S. with record-breaking cold, and Copernicus' data revealed that a good chunk of North America was cooler than average for February. However, temperatures were mostly above average around the rest of the world.

Temperatures in the high Arctic were particularly high, with scientists recording "extreme" warming of 36 F (20 C) at the North Pole on Feb. 2, Live Science previously reported. The Arctic is warming around four times faster than the rest of the world — an effect linked to the melting sea ice.

Climate change threatens billions of people worldwide. The effects of global warming include the fueling of wildfires and other extreme weather events that destroy homes; rising sea levels that threaten the survival of coastal communities; and drying agricultural lands that undermine our ability to produce food.