What was done
The authors studied various aspects of the behavior of Antarctic sea ice extent using data derived from brightness temperatures measured by the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer and the Spatial Sensor Microwave/Imagers.

What was learned
Among a host of other things, it was learned that the net trend in the mean Antarctic sea ice edge over the last 18 years has been an equatorward expansion of 0.011 degree of latitude per year.

What it means
Together with the recent findings of Comiso (see our 15 June 2000 Climate Review Recent Trends in Antarctic Surface Temperatures) with respect to the Antarctic temperature trend of the past two decades, this finding of expanding Antarctic sea ice extent over the same time period puts another nail in the coffin of the crashed-and-burning claim (see our 15 June 2000 Editorial The Global Surface Air Temperature Record Must Be Wrong) that the earth has experienced unprecedented warming over the past two decades.  In reality, it has experienced none.