<p>Melt ponds are significant physical features on the ice surface throughout the Arctic summer, and the scarcity of observational data has resulted in a vague understanding about it. This study employs satellite data and multi-model averaged outputs from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of Arctic melt ponds and their relationship with sea ice thickness (SIT) and atmospheric energy flux. The ponds first emerge at lower latitudes and gradually extend to cover central ice areas as the season progresses, then persisting longer and covering larger total areas in the central region, with peak areas exceeding 0.6 × 10⁶ km², which is four to five times that of other marginal areas. Over the past two decades, pond coverage has exhibited markedly different trends with slight decreases in the marginal seas but significant increases in the central area. Both CMIP6 and satellite data indicate that the sea ice carrying capacity, related to thickness, plays a crucial role in creating these differences. There is a marked increasing pond in areas with thicker ice. When the SIT falls below a certain threshold, however, sea ice melting results in decreased pond coverage. Additionally, the energy balance on the ice surface also dramatically impacts pond changes. For instance, the overall pond changes in central area are influenced by net longwave radiation and latent heat, with anomalies in these fluxes correlating highly (up to 0.8) with pond anomalies. Meanwhile, net shortwave radiation primarily causes local pond anomalies through the pond-shortwave feedback only under the clear weather conditions.</p>