Sea ice in the Arctic during the winter, when it's at its highest coverage, was the "lowest it's ever been at its annual peak on March 22, 2025," NASA reported Thursday.

As of March 22, sea ice coverage was at 5.53 million square miles, which marks the smallest surface area coverage in the 47-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Melinda Webster, a sea ice scientist at the University of Washington, told The Washington Post that the data indicates the climate is changing.

"We need the sea ice to act like an air conditioning unit for the planet," she said.

In the Antarctic, sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level on record.

Walt Meier, an ice scientist with NSIDC, said of the findings, "It's not yet clear whether the Southern Hemisphere has entered a new norm with perennially low ice or if the Antarctic is in a passing phase that will revert to prior levels in the years to come."

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