![]() |
[ Arctic sea ice thickness, click on images to enlarge ] |
The above combination image shows Arctic sea ice thickness on March 13, 2025 (left), April 28, 2025 (center) and May 1, 2025 (right). The image on the right shows more open water off the coast of Siberia.
The above image is a screenshot of part of a NASA Worldview satellite image for May 1, 2025. The image similarly shows open water off the coast of Siberia. The red dots indicate fires.
The image on the right, adapted from NSIDC, shows Arctic sea ice concentration on May 3, 2025.
Arctic sea ice is under threat as numerous conditions are becoming increasingly dire, as discussed in earlier posts such as this one.
For some of these conditions, further updates are added below, i.e. carbon dioxide concentrations, temperature and Arctic sea ice volume.
Carbon dioxide
A daily carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration of 431.25 parts per million (ppm) was recorded on May 10, 2025, at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the highest daily average on record.
CO₂ concentrations haven't been below 430 ppm for 14 days in a row at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, as illustrated by the above image, which shows CO₂ for the last 31 days through May 10, 2025.
One has to go back millions of years in time to find CO₂ concentrations this high, while the impact of high CO₂ concentrations back in history was lower due to lower solar output and the rate of change was also much slower, as also discussed in an earlier post.
Temperature and variables
The global surface air temperature was 15.72°C on 9 May 2025, the highest temperature on record for this day, as illustrated by the image below.
The global surface air temperature was 15.75°C on 10 May 2025, again the highest temperature on record for this day. The image below shows ERA5 daily temperature anomalies from end 2022 through May 10, 2025, with two trends added, a black linear trend and a red cubic (non-linear) trend that reflects stronger feedbacks and that follows ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) conditions more closely. This red trend warns about further acceleration of the temperature rise.
The shading added in the above image reflects the presence of El Niño conditions that push up temperatures (pink shading), La Niña conditions that suppress temperatures (blue shading), or neutral conditions (gray shading). The trends warn about feedbacks and further mechanisms pushing up temperatures over the next few years.
The above image shows two bases to compare the anomalies with, 1991-2000 (left axis) and 1901-1930 (right axis). Neither of these two bases is pre-industrial, anomalies will be higher when using a genuinely pre-industrial base.
The image below shows NASA monthly data through April 2025 compared to a custom 1903-1924. This 1903-1924 base is not pre-industrial either, anomalies will be higher when using a genuinely pre-industrial base. The monthly temperature anomaly has now been more than 1.5°C higher than this 1903-1924 base for 22 consecutive months (July 2023 through April 2025, marked with red text). Anomalies are rising rapidly, the red line (2-year Lowess Smoothing trend) points at 2°C higher than 1903-1924 getting crossed in the course of 2027.
Some variables have a short-term impact on the temperature rise, including volcanoes, sudden stratospheric warming, sunspots and El Niño/La Niña variations. There have been no volcano eruptions and no sudden stratospheric warming events recently that could have provided significant cooling. Sunspots are at a high point in this cycle, which pushes up temperatures. Regarding ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation), current conditions are ENSO-neutral, highlighting the significance of the high current temperatures, while a new El Niño may emerge soon. The image below shows NOAA's ENSO outlook dated May 11, 2025.
The above image shows two bases to compare the anomalies with, 1991-2000 (left axis) and 1901-1930 (right axis). Neither of these two bases is pre-industrial, anomalies will be higher when using a genuinely pre-industrial base.
The image below shows NASA monthly data through April 2025 compared to a custom 1903-1924. This 1903-1924 base is not pre-industrial either, anomalies will be higher when using a genuinely pre-industrial base. The monthly temperature anomaly has now been more than 1.5°C higher than this 1903-1924 base for 22 consecutive months (July 2023 through April 2025, marked with red text). Anomalies are rising rapidly, the red line (2-year Lowess Smoothing trend) points at 2°C higher than 1903-1924 getting crossed in the course of 2027.
![]() |
[ above 1.5°C for 22 consecutive months, above 2°C in 2027? ] |
The Arctic is hit hardest by the temperature rise, as illustrated by the image below, which shows temperature anomalies compared to 1951-1981 for the period from November 2024 through April 2025.
The image below illustrates that the global temperature was at a record high for the time of year for five days in a row, i.e. from April 24, 2025, through April 28, 2025.
The image below shows temperatures through May 9, 2025, in Niño 3.4, an area in the Pacific (inset) that is critical to the development of El Niño.
![]() |
[ temperature in Niño 3.4 area ] |
Arctic sea ice volume
Loss in sea ice can dramatically push up temperatures, as discussed in earlier posts such as this one. High ocean temperatures are causing Arctic sea ice volume to be very low compared to earlier years. The image below shows Arctic sea ice volume over the years in red for April, the month when Arctic sea ice typically reaches its maximum volume for the respective year.
The image below shows Arctic sea ice volume from 2000, with markers indicating volume in September (red) and in April (blue), corresponding to the year's minimum- and maximum volume.
The image below shows Arctic sea ice volume through May 12, 2025.
The image below illustrates that Arctic sea ice disappears not only as it melts away from below, due to heating up of the water of the Arctic Ocean. Arctic sea ice can also disappear as it gets broken up by ocean currents and moves out of the Arctic Ocean. The image shows how, on May 6, 2025, the sea ice gets broken up just north of the northern tip of Greenland, due to ocean currents that will also move the pieces to the south, alongside the edges of Greenland, toward the North Atlantic.
Methane
Loss of Arctic sea ice can also trigger a very dangerous feedback: eruptions of methane from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. Methane in the atmosphere is already very high and large additional methane releases threaten to cause hydroxyl depletion, in turn extending the lifetime of all methane currently in the atmosphere.
Data for the annual increase in methane have been updated by NOAA. in 2024, there was a higher increase than in 2023, the 2024 increase was almost 10 parts per billion (ppb).
The image below shows the annual methane increase data (red circles), with two trends added. A quadratic trend (blue) is based on all available data (1894 through 2024), while a quintic trend (pink) is based on 2017 through 2024 data. The pink trend warns about a huge increase in methane, which could eventuate due to eruptions of seafloor methane.
![]() |
[ from earlier post, also note the recent discussion on monthly methane ] |
![]() |
[ from earlier post ] |
Also noteworthy is this analysis by Andrew Glikson and work by Peter Wadhams et al.
In the video below, methane emissions are discussed by Peter Wadhams, Paul Beckwith, Peter Carter and Herb Simmens
IPCC
Climate Emergency Declaration
The situation is dire and the precautionary principle calls for rapid, comprehensive and effective action to reduce the damage and to improve the situation, as described in this 2022 post, where needed in combination with a Climate Emergency Declaration, as also discussed at this group.
Links
• University of Bremen - sea ice
https://seaice.uni-bremen.de/start
• NASA Worldview
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov
• NSIDC - National Snow and Ice Data Center - Sea Ice Today
https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today
• NOAA - Daily Average Mauna Loa CO2
https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/monthly.html
• Climate Reanalyzer
https://climatereanalyzer.org
• Danish Meteorological Institute - Arctic sea ice volume and thickness
https://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icethickness/thk.uk.php
• Record high increase in carbon dioxide
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2025/04/record-high-increase-in-carbon-dioxide.html
• NOAA - ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions - 5 May 2025
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf
• Copernicus
https://climate.copernicus.eu
The situation is dire and the precautionary principle calls for rapid, comprehensive and effective action to reduce the damage and to improve the situation, as described in this 2022 post, where needed in combination with a Climate Emergency Declaration, as also discussed at this group.
Links
• University of Bremen - sea ice
https://seaice.uni-bremen.de/start
• NASA Worldview
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov
• NSIDC - National Snow and Ice Data Center - Sea Ice Today
https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today
• NOAA - Daily Average Mauna Loa CO2
https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/monthly.html
• Climate Reanalyzer
https://climatereanalyzer.org
• Danish Meteorological Institute - Arctic sea ice volume and thickness
https://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icethickness/thk.uk.php
• Record high increase in carbon dioxide
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2025/04/record-high-increase-in-carbon-dioxide.html
• NOAA - ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions - 5 May 2025
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf
• NOAA - trends in methane
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187661021830136X
• Arctic Methane Release: "Economic Time Bomb"
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/arctic-methane-release-economic-time-bomb.html
• Arctic Methane Release: "Economic Time Bomb"
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/arctic-methane-release-economic-time-bomb.html
• Copernicus
https://climate.copernicus.eu
• Transforming Society
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/transforming-society.html
• Climate Plan
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/climateplan.html
• Climate Emergency Declaration
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/climate-emergency-declaration.html
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/transforming-society.html
• Climate Plan
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/climateplan.html
• Climate Emergency Declaration
https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/climate-emergency-declaration.html