NASA discovered previously unknown Antarctic ice loss that’s concerning. The loss from ice shelves is now estimated to be twice as much as it was once, and new research, including the first map of iceberg calving, shows how the continent is changing.
The biggest question in predicting how much sea level will rise is whether or not Antarctica’s ice loss will quicken as the temperature warms. Read the full report below.
Antarctica is Crumbling as Water Levels Are Rising
Recent investigations conducted by scientists at NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Southern California have turned up surprising new information on the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s recent mass loss.
The most terrible thing, though, is that we can’t do much about it.
Researchers discovered how the Antarctic shoreline has evolved over the past 25 years due to iceberg calving, or the breaking off of ice from a glacier front. The ice sheet’s edge has also been losing icebergs more quickly than it can be replenished. How terrible!
Chad Greene, lead author and JPL scientist released a statement explaining:
Antarctica is crumbling at its edges; […] when ice shelves dwindle and weaken, the continent’s massive glaciers tend to speed up and increase the rate of global sea level rise.
The ice shelves of Antarctica have been weakened and thinned so much. Who’s the culprit?
The warmer ocean is to blame because it melts everything from deep below. There hasn’t been a thorough analysis of how climate change could impact calving throughout the continent, even though satellite altimeters track the thinning process by monitoring the changing height of the ice.
Three Decades of Ice Loss
JPL researchers integrated nearly 3 billion data parts from seven spaceborne altimetry devices to create the most extensive data collection, as you can see above, on the changing height of the ice sheet, going back to 1985.
The work also includes radar and laser readings of ice elevation that were precise to millimeters!