The Arctic Is in Dire Straits, 20 Years of Reporting Show<\/p>\n
The Arctic has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, a new report shows, as temperatures skyrocket and ice rapidly melts<\/p>\n
By Andrea Thompson<\/a> edited by Claire Cameron<\/a><\/p>\n A polar bear (Ursus maritimus) swimming beside a melting iceberg in Naujaat, Nunavut.<\/p>\n Paul Souders\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Arctic is a dramatically different place than it was 20 years ago, when scientists first began giving it an annual checkup\u2014and its current state is dire.<\/p>\n The first Arctic Report Card was released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2006. Since then the region has warmed twice as fast as the global average. About 95 percent of the oldest, thickest sea ice is gone\u2014the sliver that remains is collected in an area north of Greenland. Even the central Arctic Ocean is becoming warmer and saltier, causing more ice melt and changing how much heat is released into the atmosphere in a way that affects weather patterns around the world.<\/p>\n Those are just some of the stark changes 20 years have wrought. The findings were highlighted in the 2025 Arctic Report Card<\/a>, released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n On supporting science journalism<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n \u201cThe very first Arctic Report Card in 2006 was issued because things were changing rapidly, and this need for rapid updates was felt keenly,\u201d said Rick Thoman of the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks during a press briefing at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. \u201cEvery year does not have a new record, but cumulatively [the report] provides a record of where we\u2019ve been and a guide\u2014just a guide\u2014to where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n Between October 2024 and September 2025, surface air temperatures in the Arctic were at their warmest since at least 1900, according to the report. The 10 warmest years in the region have all fallen within the past decade.<\/p>\n In the ocean, the layer of sea ice that expands each winter as temperatures drop reached a record low annual peak. The summer minimum extent was the 10th lowest in at least 47 years. The disappearing sea ice<\/a> means that less of the sun\u2019s rays are reflected back to space and are instead absorbed by the ocean, driving a vicious cycle of warming that, in turn, causes more ice loss. The dwindling sea ice also means critical habitats for iconic species such as polar bears and walrus are fast disappearing.<\/p>\n The Arctic Ocean is undergoing what scientists are calling \u201cAtlantification\u201d\u2014a process where warm, salty water from the Atlantic flows north, changing how waters of different temperatures and densities are layered in the Arctic, disrupting ecosystems and altering how heat moves from the water to the air.<\/p>\n A warmer ocean also helped a powerful storm, former Typhoon Halong, maintain strength across the Pacific in October 2025, eventually barreling into Alaska with hurricane-force winds and devastating storm surge. More than 1,500 residents were evacuated, and some villages were all but destroyed.<\/p>\n Glaciers, too, are rapidly melting away, the report found. Glaciers in Alaska have lost 125 vertical feet since the mid-20th century. Greenland\u2019s ice sheet<\/a> didn\u2019t lose as much ice this year as it did in some previous years. But it continued to pour meltwater into the oceans, raising sea levels.<\/p>\n The Arctic is simply becoming wetter, with more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow. June snow cover over the entire Arctic is half of what it was 60 years ago, the report found.<\/p>\n Permafrost also continues to thaw, releasing once trapped carbon into the atmosphere and disgorging iron and other elements that have turned rivers and streams orange. These \u201crusting rivers<\/a>,\u201d found in more than 200 watersheds, are more acidic than normal and have elevated levels of toxic metals that endanger local ecosystems. And as the permafrost thaws, the tundra of the Arctic biome is shrinking, and the boreal forest biome is creeping northward, disrupting ecosystems.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note (12\/16\/25): This article was edited after posting to better clarify the descriptions of the Arctic Report Card and \u201crusting rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/a>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts<\/a>, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters<\/a>, must-watch videos, challenging games<\/a>, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription<\/a>.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"December 16, 2025 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The Arctic Is in Dire Straits, 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[18,440,19,17,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-236959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-science"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115733423143885326","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-599854209_web.jpeg\")
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