NASA's new study has revealed that Antarctica is gaining more ice than it is actually losing. Scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Sigma Space Corporation, and the University of Maryland have published a paper in the Journal of Glaciology.
The paper reveals that the gains of Antarctic sheet are way more than the losses due to the effects of Global Warming. NASA's report is a challenge to various other research including the one of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which say that Antarctica is losing ice overall. The data by NASA shows a net gain of around 112 billion tons of ice per year in the Antarctic sheet from 1992 to 2001.
However, the gain did slow down to about 82 billion tons annually between 2003 and 2008. However, the report has also said that it will only take a few decades for the growth in the ice sheet to reverse. If West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula continue to be at loss with the same rate, the losses will overpower the gain in the next 20 to 30 years. Also, there won’t be enough snowfall to cover these losses. Therefore, if you were thinking the climate is fine, you may want to look at the bigger picture.
These recent findings by NASA do challenge the explanations for the rise in sea levels. Currently, Antarctica is not contributing towards the rise in sea levels. However, it is taking 0.23 millimeters per year away, says Jay Zwally. Thus, there is still time for Antarctica to be melting away, but, is there enough?
Image Credit: redorbit.com
