New research on Antarctica found in two separate studies that reference multiple optical and radar satellite sensors has revealed that the ice loss in Antarctica is much worse than previous estimates.
The 200-foot-tall front of the Getz Ice Shelf in Antarctica is scored with cracks where icebergs are likely to break off, or calve, in this 2016 photo. The first estimate of Antarctic calving has found that since 1997 ice shelves have lost as much ice from calving as from melting. | Credits: NASA/GSFC/OIB
“Until now, data limitations have made it difficult to monitor the growth and retreat cycles of ice shelves on a large scale, and the full impact of recent calving-front changes on ice-shelf buttressing has not been understood.” Changes in elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet from 1985 to 2021 are shown. Ice height diminishes as the ice sheet melts by contact with ocean water; it rises where accumulation exceeds melting. Ice shelves are shown in gray. The missions that supplied data are listed at bottom. | Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The second study, published in Earth System Science Data, goes a step further and shows how the thinning of Antarctic ice has spread from the continent’s outer edges towards its interior, almost doubling the western part of the ice sheet over the last 10 years.