Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.78 million square kilometers (5.71 million square miles) on March 13, 2019, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2019 maximum is effectively tied with the 2007 maximum at seventh lowest in the 40-year satellite record.

As the Arctic warms faster than the rest of the globe, permafrost, land ice and sea ice are disappearing at unprecedented rates. And these changes not only affect the infrastructure, economies and cultures of the Arctic, they have significant impacts elsewhere as well ­­­— according to a commentary in Earth’s Future, led by research scientist Twila Moon of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and sea ice loss plays a large role in this. While warmer conditions lead to more melting of sea ice, the loss of sea ice also makes it warmer - a vicious feedback cycle.

NSIDC has updated two key data sets from NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) sensor, expanding the range of these data sets from 1993 to 2018.