Polar bears in the Arctic (Credit: Acacia Johnson)
Arctic experiences hottest year on record
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The Arctic has recorded its warmest year since records began, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), highlighting the accelerating impacts of human-driven climate change.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, temperatures in the region were 1.60 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, NOAA said in its annual Arctic Report Card, which draws on data going back to 1900.
- Rapid warming across seasons -
Co-author Tom Ballinger of the University of Alaska told AFP the speed of the warming trend is “certainly alarming” and “seemingly unprecedented in recent times and maybe back thousands of years.”
The report found that 2025 included the Arctic’s warmest autumn, second-warmest winter, and third-warmest summer on record. Human-caused fossil fuel emissions are driving the region to warm far faster than the global average, a phenomenon known as “Arctic Amplification.”
Rising temperatures increase atmospheric water vapor, trapping heat, while melting sea ice exposes darker ocean waters that absorb more sunlight, reinforcing warming.
- Sea ice retreat and ecological threats -
Spring 2025 saw the smallest Arctic sea ice peak in the 47-year satellite record. Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center told AFP that the loss of ice threatens polar bears, seals, and walruses, which rely on it for movement, hunting, and birthing.
Models suggest the Arctic could experience a nearly ice-free summer as soon as 2040. Melting ice also injects freshwater into the North Atlantic, disrupting ocean circulation, including the Gulf Stream, which moderates Europe’s winters. Greenland’s ice melt contributes to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and storm-related flooding.
- Greening tundra and permafrost thaw -
The Arctic’s hydrological cycle is intensifying, with record-high spring precipitation in 2025 and among the five wettest years for other seasons since 1950. Warmer, wetter conditions are driving “borealization,” or greening, of the tundra. Circumpolar tundra greenness in 2025 ranked third highest in 26 years of satellite data.
Thawing permafrost is causing “rusting rivers,” with more than 200 streams and rivers visibly discolored by iron, degrading water quality and harming aquatic life.
