> "You honestly believe that "record low sea ice" doesn't refer to the lowest amount of the year?" That's right, and this shouldn't surprise you. As an exampl

> "You honestly believe that "record low sea ice" doesn't refer to the lowest amount of the year?" That's right, and this shouldn't surprise you. As an example, when the news talks about about "record-low snowpack" in a temperate mountain region, do you think they're talking about the "lowest minimum extent", measured at the end of summer when it's normal for snowpack to be low or zero? No, that would be stupid. They're usually talking about the "lowest maximum extent", or the lowest at some point early in the year, because that tells us how much water will be available from snowmelt, how much reservoirs will refill, potential for flooding/drought, etc. I think you're insisting on your own particular interpretation for the sake of argument, but it's certainly no more statistically useful or grammatically proper than the other ones.