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This year, the minimum Arctic sea-ice extent, at 4.33 million km², was most probably reached on 15 September (Figure 1), putting it at 7 th place in the sequence of minima since 1979. The sea ice had

In the polar regions, sea ice follows a distinctly seasonal cycle, and every year roughly 15 million square kilometres of ice are formed and melt in the Antarctic. But this winter, the ice growth has

The Arctic sea ice is currently below the levels seen in 2022 but clearly above the record minimum from 2012. Every September, the Arctic sea-ice extent reaches its annual minimum. On 7 September the

This year, sea-ice development in the Antarctic is progressing extremely slowly and, after May, once again reached a record-low monthly sea-ice extent in June. At 11.23 million km², the monthly mean s

After the Antarctic sea-ice extent reached an all-time low in February 2023, new sea ice has only slowly formed in the months since. Particularly in the Bellingshausen Sea, uncharacteristically for th

In the Antarctic, the month of February is considered to be high summer in terms of the seasonal decline in sea-ice extent. The extent reaches its lowest point in the year, while in the course of the

Research aircraft from the Alfred Wegener Institute have been surveying the ice-covered Arctic Ocean for 30 years. The immense effort of the past 52 expeditions has paid off: 40,000 km of measurement

Relevance of melt ponds In the Arctic summer, the sea ice melts due to rising temperatures and constant sunlight. When it does, meltwater can gather in pools on the surface, known as melt ponds. These