Wait, what? Antarctica gaining ice despite climate change, study says
Considering it's a barren, unimaginably cold wasteland at the bottom of the world — where penguins far outnumber people — Antarctica is sure making a lot of news these days.
A recent study in the Journal of Glaciology reported that despite the effects of man-made global warming, the frozen continent is actually gaining ice rather than losing it.
The study, led by Jay Zwally, a NASA glaciologist, claims that an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers, especially in eastern and central portions of the continent.
Meanwhile, another study out Monday said that the destabilization and eventual collapse of the massive West Antarctic ice sheet — because of global warming — would lead to as much as a nine-foot sea level rise worldwide, inundating coastal cities.
"What we call the eternal ice of Antarctica unfortunately turns out not to be eternal at all," said Johannes Feldmann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Feldmann is lead author of the second study, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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"In our simulations, 60 years of melting at the presently observed rate are enough to launch a process which is then unstoppable and goes on for thousands of years," Feldmann said in a release.
"This certainly is a long process," Feldmann added, "but it's likely starting right now."
How is this possible — can both studies be true? Yes, said Ted Scambos, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center, who was not directly involved in either study.
Scambos said that the first study is more of a short-term look at what's happening today and over the next couple decades in Antarctica, while the other is looking long-term at what will happen over centuries or even millennia if the planet continues to warm.
Additionally, he also questioned the methodology of the first study, saying that the claim of thickening ice in some portions of Antarctica could be based on incomplete data.
Overall, the long-term trend is what's most alarming: "It is clear that further greenhouse-gas emission will heighten the risk of an ice collapse in West Antarctica and more unstoppable sea-level rise," said co-author and sea-level expert Anders Levermann, also from the Potsdam Institute.
"It might be something to worry about, because it would destroy our future heritage by consuming the cities we live in — unless we reduce carbon emission quickly."
