Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 15.05 million square kilometers (5.81 million square miles) on March 5, 2020, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2020 maximum is the eleventh lowest in the 42-year satellite record. 

Snow Today is a new tool available to help snow lovers monitor conditions. It provides near-real-time updates of snow conditions across the Northern Hemisphere as well as monthly analyses of the data, focusing on the Western United States. 

QGreenland, a free geographic information system (GIS) mapping tool being managed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), will be available for download later this year.

Arctic sea ice likely reached its minimum extent for the year, at 4.15 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles) on September 18, 2019, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2019 minimum is ranked at second lowest in the 40-year satellite record, effectively tied with 2007 and 2016.