Ice melting accelerated in Greenland and Antarctica: water too warm
Greenland and Antarctica lost about 12.5 trillion tons of ice between 1979 and 2023. This led to a rise in global sea level of approximately 3.1 centimeters. This amount of ice would be enough to cover the entire continental United States with a layer about 1.5 meters thick, Bild writes.
According to CNN Brazil, researchers analyzed 44 years of satellite observations, combining the results of 45 independent studies that used data from 27 satellites, including NASA missions.
According to the results obtained, about five-sixths of the ice mass loss is not due to air warming, but to warmer seawater. It affects glaciers from the sides and underneath, accelerating their destruction.
In the 1970s-1990s, the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica remained relatively stable. However, in the 2010s, the rate of ice loss sharply increased. In 2020-2023, there was some stabilization, but scientists believe it may be related to short-term climatic fluctuations and does not indicate a change in the long-term trend.
At the same time, Antarctica recently unexpectedly increased its ice mass. From July 2021 to April 2023, the continent gained about 695 billion tons of ice. This happened due to extremely heavy snowfall in East Antarctica.
However, West Antarctica continued to lose ice. On average, from 2003-2024, Antarctica lost about 140.5 billion tons of ice annually.
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