Arctic sea ice reached its 2026 annual minimum on September 12, covering about 4.6 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles). According to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, that tied 2008, 2010, and 2025 for the 10th-lowest minimum since satellite records began in late 1978. The smallest extent on record is still September 2012.
Winter ice is shrinking too: the March 2026 maximum statistically tied March 2025 for the lowest winter peak in the satellite record. September coverage has been fairly stable over the past decade, partly because more cloud cover has limited melting, but it remains far below its historical average, and more of the remaining ice is thin first-year ice rather than older multiyear ice.
Image: Arctic sea ice at its annual minimum extent on September 12, 2026; the yellow line marks the 1981–2010 average minimum. NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, public domain.