LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Surface air temperatures across the Arctic from October 2024 through September 2025 were the warmest on record since 1900, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Autumn 2024 and winter 2025 were especially warm across the Arctic, ranking as the first warmest and second warmest on record, respectively, the Arctic Report Card said.
This year's report highlights a region warming far faster than the rest of the planet, documenting major transformations underway. These include atlantification, which is bringing warmer and saltier waters northward; the northward expansion of boreal species into Arctic ecosystems; and "rivers rusting," as thawing permafrost mobilizes iron and other metals, according to NOAA.
The report noted that the past 10 years have been the 10 warmest on record in the Arctic. Since 2006, Arctic annual temperatures have risen at more than twice the rate of global temperature changes.
Precipitation across the Arctic from October 2024 to September 2025 also reached a record high. Seasonal precipitation totals for winter, spring and autumn ranked among the five highest since 1950.
In March 2025, Arctic winter sea ice reached its lowest annual maximum extent in the 47-year satellite record, the report said.
Recent observations also indicate substantial glacier and ice losses across the Arctic, Greenland and Alaska, reflecting both regional extremes and long-term downward trends.
According to NOAA, ongoing glacier loss contributes to steadily rising global sea levels, threatening water supplies in Arctic communities, increasing the risk of destructive flooding, and heightening landslide and tsunami hazards that endanger people, infrastructure and coastlines.
