A line chart showing daily Arctic sea ice extent as of March 26, 2025, in comparison to 2017, the 2011-2020 average and the 1981-2010 median. Max sea ice extent hit a record low in 2025, reaching 14.3m square kilometers on March 21. The previous lowest max extent was on March 7, 2017, at 14.4m square kilometers. In past years, the average and median sea ice extent was higher at this time of year.