BRUSSELS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Arctic winter sea ice shrank to its lowest March level since satellite monitoring began 47 years ago, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday.

Sea ice extent in March was 6 percent below the average, marking the fourth consecutive monthly record low for the time of year, the C3S said in a report. The Arctic sea ice reaches its annual maximum extent in March of a year.

Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice extent in March was the fourth-lowest on record, measuring 24 percent below the average, said the report.

March 2025 was the second-warmest March globally, with average surface air temperatures reaching 14.06 degrees Celsius, 0.65 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.60 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels, it added.

The report said it was also the 20th month out of the last 21 months in which average global surface air temperatures surpassed the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.

In Europe, March was the warmest on record, said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the C3S. The continent also saw extreme variation in rainfall, with some areas experiencing their driest March in nearly five decades while others recorded their wettest.

The report bases its analysis on data from measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world. Its routine monthly climate report focuses on the changes observed in global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover and hydrological variables, said the C3S. Enditem

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