Antarctica's ice is melting, and scientists agree the loss is critical

By Newsela

1 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The melting of Antarctica's ice is speeding up at an

alarming rate. About 3 trillion tons of ice have disappeared since 1992, an international
team of ice experts said in a new study. In the last 25 years, the southern-most continent's
ice sheet melted into enough water to cover the state of Texas, scientists calculated. Not
only could the water cover Texas, but it could also do so at a depth of nearly 13 feet (4
meters). For instance, the ice melt on Antarctica is a key indicator of climate change,
or rising temperatures on Earth. All that water from Antarctica's melted ice made global
oceans rise about three-tenths of an inch (7.6 millimeters).

2 From 1992 to 2011, most Antarctica, except the East part, lost nearly 84 billion tons
of ice a year (76 billion metric tons). From 2012 to 2017, the melt rate increased almost
three times. During those five years, it increased to 241 billion tons a year (219 billion
metric tons). This information comes from the new study published June 13, in the
scientific journal Nature. Estimating the loss of ice was not easy. It required the use of
several information sources. These included the distinct marks left by retreating glaciers
on the landscape, extensive aerial photography from 1978 through 1987, and satellite and
aircraft observations beginning in 1983.

Ice Is Melting Faster Than Expected

3 "I think we should be worried. That doesn't mean we should be desperate," said
University of California, Irvine's Isabella Velicogna, one of 88 co-authors of the study.
"Things are happening. They are happening faster than we expected.” "Part of West
Antarctica, where most of the melting occurred, "is in a state of collapse," said co- author
Ian Joughin of the University of Washington. The study estimates that 9,103 gigatons of
ice have been lost in the last 110 years. That would amount to a 2.5 centimeter of sea level
rise. In other words, if the new study is correct, ice loss has added an inch to the world's
oceans. An inch may not sound like much, but spread over the entire globe it is a
staggering and dangerous amount of water. If ice keeps melting, it could lead to disaster. If
the Antarctica’s icesheet were to melt, it would lead to roughly 20 feet of sea level rise.

4 The study is the second of the measurements planned every several years by a team
of scientists working with NASA, the U.S. space agency, and the European Space Agency.
Their mission is to produce the broadest overview of what's happening to the world's at-risk
ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. Outside experts praised the work as authoritative.

Ice Loss Is Studied From All Angles

5 Many single-measurement studies have been done. This team of scientists, however,
looks at ice loss in 24 different ways using images from 10 to 15 satellites, said lead author
Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds in England. He said the team also uses ground and
air measurements and computer simulations. It's possible Antarctica alone can add about half a
 foot (16 centimeters) to sea level rise by the end of this century, Shepherd said. Other factors
also cause seas to rise. These causes include melting land glaciers, Greenland's dwindling ice
sheet and the fact that warmer water expands. "Under natural conditions we don't expect the
ice sheet to lose ice at all," Shepherd said about Antarctica. "There are no other plausible
signals to be driving this other than climate change”.

Natural Earth Changes Versus Climate Change

6 Shepherd does blame the Earth's rising temperatures for melting ice. However, he
said this is not a study saying humans are to blame for climate change. Forces "that are
driving these changes are not going to get any better in a warming climate," said University
of Colorado ice scientist Waleed Abdalati. He is a former NASA scientist who was not part of
the study team. In Antarctica, it's mostly warmer water causing the melt. The water nibbles
at the floating edges of ice sheets from below. Warming of the Southern Ocean is connected
to shifting winds, which are connected to global warming from the burning of coal, oil and
natural gas and lower ozone levels that have changed wind patterns. Ozone is a gas in the
atmosphere that blocks some of the sun's heat.

More than 70 percent of the recent melt is in West Antarctica.

7 The latest figures show East Antarctica is losing relatively little ice each year — about
31 tons (28 metric tons) — since 2012. It was gaining ice before 2012. So far scientists are not
comfortable saying the trend in East Antarctica will continue. It is caused by natural changes
in the Earth rather than climate change, said study co-author Joughin. He thinks East
Antarctica could stay stable for a few decades.

8 Another study in the journal Nature found the East Antarctic ice sheet also did not
melt significantly 2 million to 5 million years ago. At that time, carbon dioxide levels were
similar to what they are now. Carbon dioxide traps heat into the Earth's atmosphere and this
causes temperatures to rise and ice to melt. Twila Moon is a research scientist at the
National Snow and Ice Data Center. Though she was not part of the studies, she still considers
the loss of ice to be dreadful. "Ice-speaking, the situation is dire," Moon said.