[Antarctica and Southern Ocean] Sea ice extent, concentration, and seasonality [in 'State of the Climate in 2018']

Antarctic sea ice plays a pivotal role in the global climate system. Forming a highly-dynamic reflective and insulative blanket that varies seasonally from ~3 to ~20 × 106 km2, sea ice and its snow cover strongly modify ocean–atmosphere fluxes and interaction processes (Bourassa et al. 2013).