Total Arctic Sea ice extent remains very low, extent in Alaskan waters near normal
Total Arctic sea ice extent remains at very low levels. The sea ice extent decreased from 9.103 million km² on June 30 to 6.526 million km² by July 31. Current sea ice extent is near the level of 2024 and 2025 at this time of year, and a bit higher than 2019 and 2020 (data source: nsidc.org).
Seasonal sea ice decrease slowed in the Chukchi Sea during July. Kotzebue Sound lost all remaining ice over recent weeks. Conditions on the North Slope coast are close to average for the season. Detailed regional information is available via the NOAA sea ice outlook (July 26th). Sea ice conditions in the Laptev, Kara and Barents Sea and along eastern Greenland are far below normal and account for most of the current deficit in total Arctic Sea ice extent.
