Arctic Records Hottest Year Since 1900

The Arctic region recorded its hottest year on record from October 2024 to September 2025, according to the annual Arctic Report Card released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Surface air temperatures across the area, which spans from northern Alaska to Svalbard and the Greenland Ice Sheet, averaged 1.6 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 baseline, marking the warmest period since observations began in 1900. This milestone underscores a decade-long trend, with the 10 warmest years all occurring since 2016, as the region warms at more than twice the rate of the global average.

The report, compiled by over 100 scientists from 13 countries, details widespread environmental shifts driven by these elevated temperatures. Autumn 2024 was the warmest on record, while winter 2025 ranked second, and summer placed third. Precipitation during the year reached a record high since 1950, with winter, spring, and autumn each among the five wettest seasons in that timeframe. Much of the increased moisture has fallen as rain rather than snow, intensifying the hydrological cycle and contributing to more extreme weather events.

Sea ice conditions deteriorated...