The Arctic just experienced its warmest year since records began more than a century ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday. Rising temperatures in polar region show no signs of leveling off, according to the agency, which says they are rising twice as fast as overall global temperatures.

In the latest iteration of its annual review, NOAA looked at how the Arctic is faring in a warming world Arctic Report Card.

“Watching the Arctic means taking the pulse of the planet,” the report’s executive summary reads. “The Arctic is warming several times faster than the Earth as a whole, reshaping northern landscapes, ecosystems and the livelihoods of Arctic peoples. It is also changing the roles the Arctic plays in the global climate, economy and social systems.”

Of report for the previous yearclimate change has continued to affect the northernmost region of the Earth even more than the rest of the planet, NOAA announced. The latest report details some of the most worrying events observed over the past year, with scientists highlighting a “clear pattern of Arctic warming”.

During the observation period, from October 2024 to September 2025, average sea surface temperatures measured in the Arctic were higher than the 1991-2020 average. by as much as 13 degrees Fahrenheit, the report said. These were the warmest sea surface temperatures observed in the Arctic since at least 1900, signaling an intensifying climate pattern in the region.

In March, arctic winter sea ​​ice reached its lowest annual maximum in 47 years of satellite data collection, and six months later, the ice reached its 10th lowest annual minimum. “All 19 of the lowest September minimum ice extents have occurred in the last 19 years,” the report said.

Air temperatures have also risen. The fall season of 2024 was the warmest on record, and the winter of 2025 ranked as the second warmest, according to the report. Scientists also found that Arctic temperatures have increased more than twice as fast as global temperature changes since 2006. They were warning for years that climate change is warming the northern polar region more dramatically than anywhere else.

Vital ecosystems are being transformed as a result of prolonged Arctic warmth, the report says. The heat is accelerating the loss of sea ice and melting glaciers while changing the region’s landscapes. Its tundra is, for example, turned green as thaw permafrost and longer summers give the leaves more opportunities to grow.

Scientists stress that what happens to the Arctic directly affects the rest of the world, especially as minimum amounts of sea ice continue to shrink. Glaciers in Scandinavia saw their largest annual ice loss on record between 2023 and 2024, and the Greenland ice sheet lost an estimated 129 billion tons of ice in 2025, according to NOAA, continuing an ongoing trend.

“Ongoing glacier loss is contributing to a steady rise in global sea levels, threatening the water supplies of Arctic communities, causing devastating floods, and increasing the dangers of landslides and tsunamis that threaten people, infrastructure, and the coast,” the NOAA report said.