24/7 Space News
ICE WORLD
Ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica hits new record
A wall of ice marks the limit of the Greenland icesheet in this file image.
Ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica hits new record
by Staff Writers
Paris (ESA) Apr 24, 2023

A new report states that ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica has increased fivefold since the 1990s, and now accounts for a quarter of sea-level rise. It is without doubt that climate change is causing our polar ice sheets to melt, thereby driving up sea levels and putting coastal regions around the world at risk. Since 1992, when satellite records of ice-sheet melt began, the polar ice sheets have lost ice every single year. The highest rates of melt have occurred in the past decade.

Scientists use data from satellites such as ESA's CryoSat and the European Union's Copernicus Sentinel-1 to measure changes in ice volume and flow, as well as satellites that provide information on gravity, to work out how much ice is being lost. A team of scientists compile these records in the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (IMBIE), which is funded by ESA and NASA. This is used widely, including by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to understand and respond to the climate crisis.

The latest IMBIE assessment states that between 1992 and 2020, the polar ice sheets lost 7560 billion tonnes of ice - equivalent to an ice cube measuring 20 km each side.

The polar ice sheets have together lost ice in every year of the satellite record, and the seven highest melting years have occurred in the last decade.

Melting peaked in 2019, when the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets lost a staggering 612 billion tonnes of ice.

This was driven by summer heatwave in the Arctic, which led to a record 444 billion tonnes of ice being lost from Greenland that year. Antarctica lost 168 billion tonnes of ice - the sixth highest year on record - owing to the continued speedup of glaciers in West Antarctica and record melting from the Antarctic Peninsula. East Antarctic Ice Sheet remained close to a state of balance, as it has throughout the satellite era.

Melting of the polar ice sheets has caused a 21 mm rise in global sea level since 1992.

Ice loss from Greenland is responsible for almost two-thirds (13.5 mm) of this rise, and ice loss from Antarctica is responsible for the other third (7.4 mm).

In the early 1990s, ice sheet melting accounted for only a small fraction (5.6 %) of sea-level rise. However, there has been a fivefold increase in melting since then, and they are now responsible for more than a quarter (25.6 %) of all sea-level rise.

If the ice sheets continue to lose mass at this pace, the IPCC predicts that they will contribute between 148 and 272 mm to global mean sea level by the end of the century.

Ines Otosaka, from the University of Leeds in the UK and who led the IMBIE study, said, "Ice losses from Greenland and Antarctica have rapidly increased over the satellite record and are now a major contributor to sea-level rise. Continuously monitoring the ice sheets is critical to predict their future behaviour in a warming world and adapt to the associated risks that coastal communities around the world will face."

This is now the third assessment of ice loss produced by the IMBIE team and is made possible thanks to continued cooperation between the space agencies and the scientific community.

Over the past few years, ESA and NASA have made a dedicated effort to launch new satellite missions capable of monitoring the polar regions. The IMBIE project has taken advantage of these to produce more regular updates, and, for the first time, it is now possible to chart polar ice sheet losses every year.

Andrew Shepherd, from Northumbria University and founder of IMBIE, said, "After a decade of work, we are finally at the stage where we can continuously update our assessments of ice sheet mass balance thanks to satellites measuring and monitoring them."

This third assessment from the IMBIE team involved a team of 68 polar scientists from 41 international organisations using measurements from 17 satellite missions, including, for the first time, from GRACE Follow-On gravity mission.

The assessment will now be updated annually to make sure that the scientific community has the very latest estimates of polar ice losses.

ESA's Diego Fernandez noted, "This is another milestone in the IMBIE initiative and represents an example of how scientists can coordinate efforts to assess the evolution of ice sheets from space offering unique and timely information on the magnitude and onset of changes.

"The new annual assessments represent a step forward in the way IMBIE will help to monitor these critical regions, where we've reached a point where abrupt changes can no longer be excluded."

ESA's Mark Drinkwater added, "For over 13 years our CryoSat mission has played a starring role in measuring changes in polar ice.

"To secure the long-term continuation of radar altimetry ice-elevation and topographic-change records, we are currently developing the CRISTAL mission, a Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Mission, to enhance and extend the record from CryoSat and earlier heritage missions."

IMBIE is supported by NASA and ESA's Earth Observation Science for Society programme and Climate Change Initiative, which has contributed long-term satellite observation records to the study. Data on both ice sheets from multiple missions provides a consistent record of change from the 1990s to present day.

Related Links
CryoSat at ESA
Beyond the Ice Age

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
ICE WORLD
Accelerating pace of ice sheet melt a significant contributor to sea level rise
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 20, 2021
The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are melting at an accelerating pace causing signifcant sea level rise, according to a three-decade-long study published Thursday. Scientists tracking ice losses from Greenland and the Antarctic over a 29-year period using 50 satellites - 27 for Greenland and 23 for Antarctica - found that the polar caps lost 7,563 billion tons of ice between 1992 and 2020 and that the rate of melting is speeding up. The study published in the journal Earth Sys ... read more

ICE WORLD
Northrop Grumman's S.S. Sally Ride departs International Space Station

Next-Gen suit for NASA's work for space station missions debuts

NASA shares first Moon to Mars Architecture Concept review results

Russia releases first feature film shot in space

ICE WORLD
Starship moves fast and breaks things

Hypersonix to partner with Rocket Lab for hypersonic tests

SpaceX searches for answers after Starship's fiery demise

SpaceX rocket explosion rained brown debris on nearby parks, town

ICE WORLD
Hey Percy, look at those boulders

Up and Soon, Away: Perseverance Continues Exploring the Upper Fan

Making Tracks up Marker Band Valley: Sols 3803-3804

NASA selects NAU researcher for international mission to Martian moons

ICE WORLD
China's space missions break new ground

Open cooperation, China Aerospace goes to the world

A staunch supporter of China's space undertakings

Scientists reviewed the research and development of Tianzhou cargo spacecraft

ICE WORLD
ESA's technical centre expands

Sidus Space announces oricing of $10M Public Offering

DISH TV adding to fleet with new Maxar satellite order

Nova Space to offer Space Professional Development Program for AWS Employees

ICE WORLD
Paving the way for truly intelligent materials

Researchers 3D print a miniature vacuum pump

Researchers capture first atomic-scale images depicting early stages of particle accelerator film formation

Outstanding performance of organic solar cell using tin oxide

ICE WORLD
TESS celebrates fifth year scanning the sky for new worlds

New stellar danger to planets identified by Chandra

International team discover new exoplanet partly using direct imaging

Webb peeks into the birthplaces of exoplanets

ICE WORLD
Icy Moonquakes: Surface Shaking Could Trigger Landslides

Europe's Jupiter probe launched

Europe's JUICE mission blasts off towards Jupiter's icy moons

Spotlight on Ganymede, Juice's primary target

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.