The Copernicus Climate Change Service, a climate monitoring agency of the European Union, released a report on the 6th saying that the global sea ice coverage fell to the lowest level in history in early February, and February was also the third highest February in global temperature on record.
The report shows that after the global sea ice coverage reached the lowest level in history in early February, it remained below the record value of February 2023 for the rest of the month. The Arctic sea ice coverage in February was 8% lower than the average level for the same period, setting a record low for the month on record. This is also the third consecutive month to refresh the lowest record of sea ice coverage for the same period. The Antarctic sea ice coverage that month was 26% lower than the average level for the same period, the fourth lowest in history.
The report also pointed out that February 2025 was the third hottest February in the world. The global average surface temperature in February was 13.36 degrees Celsius, 1.59 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial level (1850-1900), and it was the 19th month in the past 20 months when the global average surface temperature exceeded the pre-industrial level by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said that February continued the trend of record or near-record high temperatures observed in the past two years. An important consequence of global warming is the melting of sea ice, and the sea ice coverage at the poles reached or was close to the record low, causing the total global sea ice coverage to drop to the lowest level in history.
