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Between 2003 and 2019, an average of more than 300 gigatons of ice were lost annually in these regions, which led to a 14-millimeter rise in sea level.
Through the use of laser-observation instruments placed on satellites, a team of NASA scientists has managed to generate an exact image of the complexity of the change of ice sheets on the Antarctic and Greenland glaciers during the last 16 years, he reported this week the space agency in a statement.
The study, published in the journal Science, revealed that between 2003 and 2019 the Greenland ice sheet lost an average of 200 gigatons of ice per year, while in Antarctica an average annual loss of 118 gigatons of ice.
To understand the amount these figures represent, they explain that one gigaton of ice is enough to fill 400,000 Olympic pools or to cover New York’s Central Park with ice over 300 meters thick.
To create the charts, the specialists used data from the ICESat-2 satellite, launched in 2018, and compared the information with measurements taken by the original ICESat since 2003.
The investigation also revealed that in the eastern region of Antarctica there is an increase in ice sheets. However, this cannot compensate for the massive losses recorded in West Antarctica, caused by the ocean warming.
Scientists concluded that melting glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland in the past 16 years led to sea level rise by 14 millimeters. This represents about a third of the increase in the level of all the world’s oceans during this period.
In this context, the specialists explain that the ice that melts from the frozen platforms that float in the ocean does not raise the sea level, but they assure that these structures provide stability for the glaciers found on the continent.
“The new analysis reveals the response of ice sheets to climate change in unprecedented detail, revealing clues as to why and how ice sheets are reacting the way they do,” said Alex Gardner, a laboratory glaciologist. Jet Propulsion System.
