DTNZ: Arctic sea ice levels remain significantly above 2012 record low

New figures on Arctic sea ice have reignited debate over climate projections after the 2025 summer minimum measured 4.6 million square kilometres — around 35 per cent higher than the record low of 3.4 million square kilometres recorded in 2012.

Toby Young: Dramatic Slowdown in Melting of Arctic Sea Ice Surprises Scientists (But Not Climate Sceptics)

The melting of sea ice in the Arctic has slowed dramatically in the past 20 years, scientists have reported, with no statistically significant decline in its extent since 2005. The Guardian (of all newspapers) has more.

Matt Ridley: An ice-free Arctic Ocean has happened before

The sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is approaching its annual nadir. By early September each year about two thirds of the ice cap has melted, then the sea begins to freeze again. This year looks unlikely to set a record for melting, with more than four million square kilometres of ice remaining, less than the average in the 1980s and 1990s, but more than in the record low years of 2007 and 2012. (The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has been increasing in recent years, contrary to predictions.)

This will disappoint some. An expedition led by David Hempleman-Adams to circumnavigate the North Pole through the Northeast and Northwest passages, intending to demonstrate “that the Arctic sea ice coverage shrinks back so far now in the summer months that sea that was permanently locked up now can allow passage through”, was recently held up for weeks north of Siberia by, um, ice. They have only just reached halfway.