Antarctic ice mass change since 2002
Key takeaways
- Antarctica has lost about … gigatonnes of ice since 2002.
- That is enough water to raise global sea level by about … mm.
- Losses are concentrated in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, where warm ocean water is thinning ice shelves.
What are we looking at?
The chart shows the total change in the mass of the Antarctic ice sheet since April 2002, measured by the GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellites. Antarctica's record is noisier than Greenland's because heavy snowfall years can temporarily add a large amount of mass, as happened in the early 2020s. The long term trend is still clearly downward.
Most of the loss comes from glaciers such as Thwaites and Pine Island that drain into the Amundsen Sea. There, relatively warm deep water melts the floating ice shelves from below, letting the glaciers behind them speed up.
Why do we care?
Antarctica holds enough ice to raise global sea level by about 58 m, and it is the largest source of uncertainty in projections for the end of this century and beyond. Parts of West Antarctica rest on bedrock below sea level that deepens inland, which may make them prone to rapid, sustained retreat once it begins.
Data: GRACE and GRACE-FO JPL mascon solution (RL06.3), via NASA Earth Indicators. Reference: Watkins, M.M. et al. (2015), doi:10.1002/2014JB011547.