MEXICO: A new study that is published in the journal Science combines satellite data in order to track the health of Antarctica’s floating ice shelves. The study shows that the ice has decreased as much as 18 percent over the past two decades. It provides a longer range snapshot of how the Antarctic ice sheet responds to climate change than previous studies.
Researchers analyzed data from a couple of decades of satellite radar altimetry data. The data was collected by missions of the European Space Agency between 1994 and 2012. They used it to create a high-resolution record of ice shelf thickness and were able to show that not only the ice is decreasing but also is the rate of decrease is pacing up.
The data shows that the total volume of ice sheets changed just a little between 1994 and 2003, and after that a much more fast decline started.
“Eighteen percent over the course of 18 years is really a substantial change. Overall, we show not only the total ice shelf volume is decreasing, but we see an acceleration in the last decade,” said Fernando Paolo, graduate student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, in a statement.
“The ice shelves buttress the flow from grounded ice into the ocean, and that flow impacts sea-level rise, so that’s a key concern from our new study,” said Scripps glaciologist Helen Amanda Fricker.
“We’re looking into connections between El Niño events in the tropical Pacific and changes in the Antarctic ice sheet. It’s very far apart but we know that these teleconnections exist. That may ultimately allow us to improve our models for predicting future ice loss,” said Paolo.
Fricker said that the research will go on and that the team will take a next look at the causes behind melting of ice shelves. It includes changes in the ocean and atmosphere.
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