Arctic sea ice decline seemed to be slowing – until two record-breaking low-ice winters

Per The Conversation, Arctic winter sea ice appeared to be stabilizing in recent years, but data from twenty twenty-five and twenty twenty-six overturns that apparent pause. Those two winters produced near-record and record lows; the year-to-year decline between twenty twenty-four and twenty twenty-five was the largest on record, at nearly six percent. Climate models indicate such swings are rare but physically plausible under current warming. The finding suggests the earlier slowdown was a temporary interruption in an ongoing decline—and under continued warming, winter ice is unlikely to rebound to levels seen earlier this decade.

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