Meanwhile, in a place quite literally poles apart from the Arctic, things are moving in the opposite direction - in every sense...
Anyone who has not recently clicked on the "Antarctic" button on the Region Selector part of the IJIS/ADS page may well be surprised if they have a quick look.
There is a data drop for 2002 between 13th to the 19th Sept (incl), but, that apart, 2016 is now in the basement. Although the extent maximum in the Antarctic is far more variable than that witnessed in the Arctic, the numbers are still pretty astonishing. (The BIST tool provided by the NSIDC is excellent at showing up this behaviour.)
During the period 29th Aug - 13th Sep this year, the Antarctic sea ice extent dropped about 690k sq kms. Over the same period, the average value for the 2000's rose by about 420k. An even more extreme example can be seen by comparing values this year with those record high values set in 2014. The same day value for 13th Sep 2016 is a truly jaw-dropping 2.02 million sq kms below the 2014 equivalent.
What makes that already astonishing delta even more worrying is that the imminent trajectories for the two years in question appear - at least at the moment - to be divergent.
I think it's too early to say if this is purely down to specific weather conditions, or whether the sea ice in the Antarctic is starting to respond to climate change in an analogous fashion to its boreal cousin. However, a watching brief is definitely in order.