https://phys.org/news/2018-06-satellites-track-antarctic-ice.html

Their report, published today in Nature's special issue on Antarctica, explains how ice shelf thinning and collapse have triggered an increase in the continent's sea level contribution. It also explains that although the total area of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has shown little overall change during the satellite era, there are signs of a longer-term decline when mid-twentieth century ship-based observations are considered.

Lead author Professor Andrew Shepherd, from the School of Earth and Environment at Leeds, said: "Antarctica is way too big to survey from the ground, and we can only truly understand the trends in its ice cover by looking at the continent from space."