Science
Scientists Stunned As Antarctica’s Ice Sheet Grows For First Time In 30 Years
On January 11, 2008, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, ice floe drift encircles giant tabular icebergs in Vincennes Bay.
There is a startling change taking place at the bottom of the globe. At least for the time being, Antarctica’s enormous ice sheet has begun to grow once more after decades of contributing to sea level rise.
According to a report this week in Science China Earth Sciences, unusual increases in precipitation were a major factor in the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s (AIS) record-breaking mass gain between 2021 and 2023. In East Antarctica, where four large glacier basins had previously displayed indications of destabilisation, the recovery is particularly noteworthy.
Satellite data shows ice sheet mass increase
Big picture view:
Satellite gravimetry data from the GRACE and GRACE-FO missions, which measure variations in Earth’s gravity to detect changes in ice mass, was analysed by researchers from Tongji University and other institutions.
They discovered that the AIS was losing 142 gigatons of ice year between 2011 and 2020. However, the trend reverted between 2021 and 2023, with the ice sheet adding an unprecedented 108 gigatons annually.
During the same time period, that increase was sufficient to temporarily counteract the rise in sea level by roughly 0.3 millimetres annually.
Sea level rise has been mostly caused by the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s (AIS) historical mass loss, which has been accelerated in West Antarctica and portions of East Antarctica, especially between 2011 and 2020. However, the AIS saw a record-breaking mass gain between 2021 and 2023 due to abnormal precipitation, even reversing trends in important glacier basins including Totten, Moscow, Denman, and Vincennes Bay.
Key glacier basins showed the most dramatic shift
The most noteworthy advances occurred in the Totten, Denman, Moscow University, and Vincennes Bay glacier basins, along with the Wilkes Land and Queen Mary Land regions of East Antarctica. Due to surface melting and increased ice discharge into the ocean, these glaciers lost mass at an accelerated rate between 2011 and 2020. However, they now seem to have mostly recovered.
However, scientists caution that this change does not imply that the climate catastrophe is resolved. Unusual precipitation patterns, which can be transient, were associated with the gains.
What’s next:
More than half of the fresh water on Earth is found in the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Along with Greenland’s ice melting and the thermal expansion of warming oceans, it has been one of the main causes of sea level rise for decades.
In addition to being unexpected, this new development phase serves as a reminder of how dynamic and vulnerable arctic regions are to changes in the environment. Sea level projections for the near future may change if comparable circumstances continue. However, the majority of scientists emphasise that unless there are broader climate patterns to back it, the rebound is probably only transitory.
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