Arctic sees hottest year since 1900 as climate crisis continues

Report finds warmest temperatures, loss of snow cover as US joins Arctic countries to push ahead with oil drilling.Published On 17 Dec 2025A new report has found unprecedented temperature rises and significant loss of snow and ice in the Arctic, a region now described as “warming far faster than the rest of the planet”.The annual Arctic Report Card published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Tuesday found that surface air temperatures across the Arctic between October 2024 and September 2025 were “the warmest recorded since 1900”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump torpedoes international deal to reduce shipping emissionslist 2 of 4True climate justice demands a reckoning with colonialismlist 3 of 4At least 1,250 people dead: What caused the devastating Asia floods?list 4 of 4‘We don’t want to disappear’: Tuvalu fights for climate action and survivalend of listLast year’s unusually high temperatures capped off a decade of record highs in the region surrounding the North Pole, according to the report, which was a collaboration of 112 authors from 13 different countries.In the 47 years that satellite images have been used for recording and measurement, winter sea ice reached its lowest levels in March 2025, while snow cover over the Arctic in June was half what it was six decades ago, the report found.The report card was the 20th to be released annually by NOAA, a US government agency that appears to have undergone changes to its scope of work under the Trump administration.The report’s authors presented their findings at a news conference where a reporter asked about statements made by NOAA officials under previous US administrations, linking environmental changes in the Arctic to fossil fuel pollution.Steven Thur, NOAA’s acting chief scientist, responded to the question without referring to fossil fuels or climate change directly.“We recognise that the planet is changing dramatically. Our role within NOAA is to try to predict what’s going to occur in the future by documenting what’s occurring today,” Thur said.