Discover the melting ice of Antarctica in this breathtaking graphic

An expanse of icy earth at the South Pole of the Earth is covered by 90% of the planet's ice. If all the ice on the Antarctic glaciers were to melt, it would raise the sea level by 190 feet.

Much of this ice is miles thick and is still frozen. But a warmer atmosphere and a warmer ocean led some to melt very quickly, at a faster and faster pace.

An international team of 80 researchers reported earlier this month that the thaw rate in Antarctica has tripled in the last decade. The study, published in the journal Nature showed that the Antarctic lost a total of 2.771 billion tons of ice between 1992 and 2017. Half of these losses occurred during last five years.

Javier Zarracina / Vox

The researchers found these figures using satellite measurements of mbad balance of ice caps, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA called IMBIE. The study is one of the most robust efforts ever undertaken to measure changes in the Antarctic, and its findings are a disturbing example of the consequences of a warmer ocean.

According to the research team, the rate of ice loss accelerated to 219 gigatonnes per year between 2012 and 2017, a little more than the peak flow of Niagara Falls. That's 219 billion metric tons.

Understanding the rate of ice melt in Antarctica is extremely important for the sea level around the world. To continue on this path means to transform every coast, and every coastal community on earth.

But how can you even wrap your mind around such a large number?

Let's start small. One metric ton of ice has the mbad of one cubic meter of water:

Now use this water to fill an Olympic pool. This requires 2,500 tonnes of water, or 660,000 US gallons. Every second, the Antarctic loses about three times that mbad in the ice:

That means every 40 hours, the Antarctic loses a gigaton or a billion tons of ice:

For the 25 years between 1992 and 2017, Antarctica lost an average ice mbad of 109 gigatonnes a year

This equates to 2,710 gigatonnes of ice turned into water between 1992 and 2017 (get ready to scroll).

Javier Zarracina / Vox

This year, we also observed a heat wave in the Arctic and the fastest decline of Arctic sea ice in 1,500 years. But it is important to note that ice in Antarctica is different from this ice, with different consequences for the planet.

Much of the ice in the Arctic is made up of sea ice made from frozen ocean. Its extent changes with the seasons, and is only a few meters thick at the maximum. It can alter atmospheric air currents, but it has a negligible impact on sea levels.

Antarctic ice, on the contrary, is at the top of the ocean. a land mbad. It is formed by rainfall over millions of years, and is over 3 miles thick in its thickest points. As it is not in the water, Antarctic ice increases sea levels on a global scale when it melts. Given the amount of brobdingnagian ice that it shelters, the melting of the Antarctic has the potential to overwhelm the coasts of the entire world.

But there are still many uncertainties as to the extent to which this will unfold. "He is still considered a joker in the prediction of sea level rise," said Ted Scambos, IMBIE team member and principal investigator at the National Snow Data Center and the ice. "Some people wonder if it will be slow."

What is clearer now is that Arctic and Antarctic ice are experiencing declines, and the rate of ice melting in Antarctica is accelerating. Researchers are preparing new satellite missions to measure ice before it disappears.

At the same time, storms become more intense and more people live in coastal areas. Miami real estate developers should therefore closely monitor the South Pole, lest a condo building in the interior of the land suddenly finds itself on a beach front.