Antarctica is BIG ~14million km².
That’s the same area as USA + Mexico.
Or twice the size of Australia.
Credit: British Antarctic Survey
Here it is with live weather patterns & temperatures –
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-1.36,-91.12,447
(Click on any point for position, wind direction & speed, temperature: more info on Reference sites page)
And Cold … 0 to -30°C on the coast & -20 to -60°C inland, The mean annual temperature of the interior is -57 °C & the lowest temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth (-93.2 °C) was at Dome A, in 2010. https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/antarctica/geography/weather/temperatures/ & http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/webdata/met/spo_met_english.jpg
Live web-cam – http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/spo/livecamera.html
Instead, rescue ships and a helicopter, all belching substantial carbon emissions, had to be mobilised to pluck those aboard the icebreaker MV Akademik Schokalskiy from their plight, stuck in what appears to be, ironically, record amounts of ice for this time of year.Editorial, The Australian, 2 January 2013 ]
see also http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/ship-of-fools-finally-rescued-by-irony.html
& Record Antarctic sea ice is forcing scientists to consider relocating research bases as they struggle to cope
Cooling is evident over most of the Southern Ocean in all seasons.The annual mean, has fallen approximately 0.2–0.4°C per decade or 0.7–1.3°C over the 33 year period.
http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/staff/cdeser/docs/fan.antarctic_seaice_trends.grl14.pdf
See also Kenneth Richards post at permalink
& the Antarctic ice is now growing to record levels. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-study-mass-gains-of-antarctic-ice-sheet-greater-than-losses with a net gain of ~ 82 billion tons of ice per year https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-maximum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5z-wXI4l90
IPCC and Antarctica https://vimeo.com/14384329 Professor John R. Christy – 4min