“The sea-ice surrounding Antarctica is well below any previous recorded winter level, satellite data shows, a worrying new benchmark for a region that once seemed resistant to global warming. “It’s so far outside anything we’ve seen, it’s almost mind-blowing,” says Walter Meier, who monitors sea-ice with the National Snow and Ice Data Center.”
Antarctic sea-ice at ‘mind-blowing’ low alarms experts – BBC News
Maximum extent this year occurred on September 12 at 17,588,125 km. sq.
ftp://osisaf.met.no/prod_test/ice/index/v2p2/sh/osisaf_sh_sie_daily.txt
Nine years ago, Walt Meier wrote a paper describing much lower extent during the winter of 1966.
Antarctic Sea Ice Extents During the 1960s
Extent on September 12 was very similar to the same date in 1986.