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Two East Antarctic glaciers appear to have lost 18.5 billion tonnes of ice per year between 2002 and 2016.
Researchers at the University of California write this in a new article. Sea level rose 0.7 millimeters worldwide during this period. But if both glaciers collapse completely, this will likely result in a rise in sea level of about 5 meters.
Ice loss in Antarctica has tripled in recent years: from 73 to 219 billion tons per year. This means that the Antarctic ice sheet contributes significantly to the overall rise in sea level. In total, the sea level has risen by about 7.6 millimeters over the last 25 years thanks to in Antarctica. And no less than 40% of this rise in sea level – or 3 millimeters – has occurred in the last five years.
Measurements
The researchers studied two large glaciers in the eastern Arctic: Totten and the Moscow University. For the research, they combined NASA satellite data with mass balance approaches of regional atmospheric climate models. Ice discharge measurements were also included in the survey. Lead author Yara Mohajerani explains it further. "For this study, we used an improved methodology with GRACE data to track massive loss in a rapidly changing area," she says. "We then compared this data with other independent measures to obtain the most reliable result possible."
East Antarctica
The results are quite surprising. For example, East Antarctica is considered by scientists to be much more stable than, for example, West Antarctica, or the Antarctic Peninsula, where fusion is currently largely in progress. Antarctic. Yet it seems that even this icecap – the coldest place on earth – can not escape global warming. "Glaciers are vulnerable to the penetration of warm water from the ocean," says co-author Erig Rignot. According to the researcher, this points out that East Antarctic glaciers are just as important to consider as those in the western part of the continent.
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