Fact brief – Has Arctic sea ice recovered?
[1]Posted on 9 September 2025 by Sue Bin Park
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact[2] to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline[3].
Has Arctic sea ice recovered?
Arctic sea ice, in both extent and volume, continues to decline.
The only fair comparison for Arctic sea ice is to a full 12 months prior, as ice accumulates each winter and melts each summer.
By that metric, Arctic sea ice extent set a record low maximum in March 2025, the month when ice is at its highest. Arctic sea ice volume for July 2025 was the 5th lowest on record.
There are two types of sea ice: thin “first-year” ice and thick “multi-year” ice. First-year ice grows and shrinks with the seasons and fluctuations in ocean currents and wind patterns.
These short-term ups and downs do not change the decline of multi-year ice. Satellite records since 1979 show continued loss in both extent and volume of multi-year ice.
Since that year, June ice extent loss has totaled more than 3 million square kilometers, nearly twice the size of Alaska.
Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact[4][5]
This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one[6].
Sources
NSIDC Sea Ice Today[7]
NSIDC Sea Ice – Science[8]
Polar Science Center PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reanalysis[9]
NSIDC The peak of summer, the depths of winter[10]
Please use this form[11] to provide feedback about this fact brief. This will help us to better gauge its impact and usability. Thank you!
About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact[12] — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here[13].
References
- ^ Fact brief – Has Arctic sea ice recovered? (skepticalscience.com)
- ^ Gigafact (gigafact.org)
- ^ the tipline (gigafact.org)
- ^ Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science (sks.to)
- ^ to the fact brief on Gigafact (gigafact.org)
- ^ this one (archive.ph)
- ^ Sea Ice Today (nsidc.org)
- ^ Sea Ice – Science (nsidc.org)
- ^ PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reanalysis (psc.apl.uw.edu)
- ^ The peak of summer, the depths of winter (nsidc.org)
- ^ this form (docs.google.com)
- ^ Gigafact (gigafact.org)
- ^ See all of our published fact briefs here (sks.to)