NASA · Monday, October 12, 2026
Antarctic sea ice hit its third-smallest winter peak on record, NASA says
The File desk · Oct 12, 2026, 10:57 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed as NASA’s account, in an Earth Observatory image of the day for Oct. 12, 2026. NASA says the ice “likely reached” its peak on Sept. 14, and that the numbers can be revised.
- Confirmed
NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center estimate the Sept. 14, 2026, peak at 17.59 million square kilometers (6.79 million square miles), the third-lowest maximum in the satellite record.
- Confirmed
NASA says both the lowest peak and the lowest low point on record came in 2023. The article does not give a cause.
The sea ice around Antarctica reached its biggest size of the year on Sept. 14, but that peak was the third-smallest since satellites began tracking it in the late 1970s, NASA said Monday. At its height the ice covered about 6.79 million square miles (17.59 million square kilometers), by an estimate from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. NASA says the ice “likely reached” that peak on Sept. 14, and that the figures can be revised. The smallest peak on record came in 2023.
Antarctic sea ice usually peaks in September, at the end of the southern winter, and shrinks to its smallest in February. Antarctica is land ringed by ocean, NASA writes, so winter ice has room to spread, then reaches warmer water that melts it in summer. The Arctic is the other way around: an ocean ringed by land.
From 1979 to 2014 the ice grew by about 1 percent a decade, with record winter highs in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Big drops began in 2016, and the ice has stayed mostly below normal since, with small rebounds in some years. 2023 set records for both the lowest peak and the lowest low point. NASA says scientists will keep watching to learn whether the drop is a long-term change or a swing that may reverse. The article does not give a cause.
Satellites read the faint microwave energy the ice gives off. Microwaves pass through clouds. The record began with NASA’s Nimbus-7 in late 1978. Since 2025, scientists also use Japan’s GCOM-W satellite. An area counts as ice-covered when at least 15 percent of it is ice. That total area is what “extent” means.
What is still unknown or disputed
- How far below average this year’s peak was. The article does not say.
- Which years rank first and second for the lowest peaks, besides 2023. Only 2023 is named.
- The National Snow and Ice Data Center’s own release. It was not opened.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
Antarctic Sea Ice Grows to Its 2026 Maximum
NASA Earth Observatory · October 12, 2026
Antarctic sea ice in 2026 likely reached its annual maximum extent on September 14. On that date, the ice covered an estimated 17.59 million square kilometers (6.79 million square miles), making it the third-lowest maximum on record.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/antarctic-sea-ice-grows-to-its-2026-maximum/