2024 was officially recognized as the hottest in the history of observations, and therefore it is not surprising that the world stocks of sea ice were thinner. However, now scientists have made an alarming statement: the Arctic sea ice is at the second lowest level in the history of observations, writes Daily Mail.

According to the National Snow and Ice data Center (NSIDC), the sea ice area reached the lowest level in January, having lost incredible 1.29 million square kilometers compared to the average indicator for 1981-2010.

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Scientists believe that such a record reduction in the volume of sea ice is probably associated with abnormally high temperatures that did not allow the ice to form normally in winter. The conditions were especially hot in the north of Greenland and in the central part of Alaska, where the temperature was 8 ° C above the average.

This led to the fact that the Gudzon Strait, a large area of \u200b\u200bsalt water in the northeast of Canada, has just covered in ice, despite the fact that it usually freezes in mid-December. However, the area of \u200b\u200bsea ice is still 50,000 square kilometers exceeds the record low indicator per month established in 2018.

The researchers used the satellite data and counted that last month, the Arctic sea ice covered an average of 13.13 million square kilometers. This is much less than on average in January 2024, when Arctic ice covered 13.92 million square kilometers-the 20th lowest indicator per month.

However, while the ice in the Gudzon Gulf and the Bering Sea grew up, the ice cover retreated further north in areas such as Labrador and Okhotsk Sea. Satellite data indicate that the edge of the ice shield was north than on average for 1981-2010, in almost all studied areas. Such indicators followed a record low December, when the level of Arctic sea ice fell below the previous record due to delayed growth in the Hudson Gulf and the Barents Sea.

It is assumed that the volumes of sea ice were recordly low primarily due to extremely warm air and water temperatures in the Arctic. The data of the researchers indicate that the average air temperature was higher than the average almost for the entire Arctic Ocean, which complicated the formation of ice.

Including January 2025, the Arctic annually loses 41,000 square kilometers of sea ice, or 2.8% of its total number compared to the average indicator for 1981-2010. This means that since 1979, the Arctic has already lost 1.88 million square kilometers of sea ice. For comparison, this area is comparable to Alaska Square. Another important detail: scientists also found that sea ice in the Arctic has become more smooth over the past three decades.

In the Antarctic, despite the promising beginning of the month, the area of \u200b\u200bsea ice also fell to an almost record low level. In the first half of January, the slow pace of ice loss led to the fact that the daytime area of \u200b\u200bthe ice for a short time exceeded the long -term average.

In the second half of the month, the 12th of the lowest ice area for 46 years of observation was observed in the Antarctica, and the month ended with the lowest 10% of the daily values.

Although the sea ice of the Antarctic still covers about one million square kilometers more than the record-low January in 2023, the norm is now the temperature above zero.

Previously, Focus wrote that scientists said that they knew when the first summer without ice will come in the Arctic.