The Arctic Is in Dire Straits, 20 Years of Reporting Show

The Arctic is in dire straits, 20 years of reporting

By Andrea Thompson edited by Claire Cameron

The Arctic is a radically different place than it was 20 years ago, when scientists began giving it an annual examination – and its current state is dire.

The first report on the Arctic 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% of the oldest and thickest sea ice has disappeared: the remaining fragment is collected in an area north of Greenland. Even the central Arctic Ocean is becoming warmer and saltier, causing increased ice melt and changing the amount of heat released into the atmosphere in ways that affect weather patterns around the world.

These are just some of the radical changes that have taken place in 20 years. The findings were highlighted in the 2025 Arctic Report, released Tuesday.

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“The very first Arctic report in 2006 was released because things were changing rapidly and this need for rapid updates was keenly felt,” Rick Thoman of the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks said during a press briefing at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. “Every year there is no new record, but cumulatively [the report] provides a record of where we have been and a guide – just a guide – to where we are going.

Between October 2024 and September 2025, Arctic surface air temperatures were their warmest since at least 1900, the report said. The region’s ten warmest years have all occurred within the last decade.

In the ocean, the layer of sea ice that expands each winter as temperatures drop has reached a record annual peak. The summer minimum extent was the 10th lowest in at least 47 years. Disappearing sea ice means that fewer solar rays are reflected back into space and are instead absorbed by the ocean, leading to a vicious cycle of warming which, in turn, leads to increased ice loss. Declining sea ice also means that critical habitats for iconic species such as the polar bear and walrus are rapidly disappearing.

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing what scientists call “Atlantification” – a process by which warm, salty water from the Atlantic is flowing north, changing the way waters of different temperatures and densities overlap in the Arctic, disrupting ecosystems and changing the way heat moves from water to air.

A warmer ocean also helped a powerful storm, former Typhoon Halong, maintain its strength across the Pacific in October 2025, eventually sweeping across Alaska with hurricane-force winds and a devastating storm surge. More than 1,500 residents were evacuated and some villages were virtually destroyed.

Glaciers are also melting rapidly, according to the report. Alaska’s glaciers have lost 125 feet of elevation since the mid-20th century. The Greenland ice sheet did not lose as much ice this year as in previous years. But it continued to dump meltwater into the oceans, causing sea levels to rise.

The Arctic is simply getting wetter, with more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow. June snow cover across the Arctic is half of what it was 60 years ago, according to the report.

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 “rusty rivers,” found in more than 200 watersheds, are more acidic than normal and have high levels of toxic metals that endanger local ecosystems. And as permafrost melts, the tundra of the Arctic biome shrinks and the boreal forest biome shifts north, disrupting ecosystems.

Editor’s Note (12/16/25): This article was edited after publication to better clarify the Arctic Report Card’s descriptions of “rusty rivers.”

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