Key take-aways

• This first half of 2024 saw a continuation of the drastic loss of sea ice at global scale caused by a combination of the now usual major melting during the northern hemisphere spring in the Arctic, and now the significant lack of sea ice growth during the southern hemisphere autumn in the Antarctic. 

• On the 25th of June 2024, the global (northern and southern hemisphere) sea ice extent is close to the 2023 historical record (figure 11) and the global sea ice volume reached a new record, lower than those of 2022 and 2023 (figure 12).  

• Arctic Sea ice extent reached 9.43 million km²  (figures 1,3) and sea ice volume has reached 10,670 km³ (figures 7) on the 25th of June 2024.That represents respectively a loss of 0.7 million km² (7%) (figure 4) and 12,020  km³ (52%) (figure 6) compared to the long-term average (1993-2010). For the month of June, more than half of the Arctic Sea ice volume has disappeared in the last thirty years. 

• Antarctic sea ice extent has reached 12.3 million km² (figures 2,5) and sea ice volume has reached 6,300 km³ (figures 9) on the 25th of June 2024. That represents respectively a loss of 2.7 million km² (18%) (figure 6) and 6,400 km³ (50%) (figure 8) compared to the long-term average (1993-2010). For the month of June, half of the Antarctic Sea ice volume has disappeared in the last thirty years.. 

• At global scale, the cumulative loss of 3.40 million km² of sea ice extent (figure 11) in the last thirty years corresponds to 3 times the size of France (all regions). 

• The sea ice volume in 2024 at global scales is following the footsteps of the historically low years of 2022 and 2023 (figure 12). Compared to 1993, the global sea ice volume loss of 18,000 km³ corresponds nearly half year of the world river discharge.