Arctic Ocean

Arctic sea ice extent will hit its minimum in mid-September, the data will be published in early October.
This is the July numbers, compared to previous Julys of the satellite era.

Arctic sea ice extent averaged for July 2024 was 7.89 million square kilometers (3.05 million square miles), the sixth lowest in the 46-year passive microwave satellite record (Figure 1a and 1b). As of August 1, daily sea ice extent is third lowest behind 2019 and 2020, and just below 2012, the record low year. The July sea ice extent was 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) above 2020, the record low July.

The Southern Ocean

It is now winter in the Southern hemisphere. Here is how the sea ice is starting to shape up prior to its expected maximum in September.

Antarctic sea ice extent in late July stood very close to the levels seen in 2023, which ended up with the lowest seasonal minimum and maximum in the satellite data record (Figure 5a). At the end of July 2024, sea ice was more than 2.1 million square kilometers (811,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average, and 190,000 square kilometers (73,000 square miles) above 2023.