Antarctica’s melting ice shelves have unleashed 7.5 TRILLION tonnes of water into the oceans since 1997, study finds

A study revealed that the melting of Antarctica’s ice sheets over the past 25 years has released 7.5 trillion tons of water into the ocean.

By analyzing more than 100,000 satellite radar images, researchers from the University of Leeds discovered a steady erosion of the continent’s ice sheets, with more than 40 percent shrinking between 1997 and 2021.

While some ice sheets increased in size during this period, the data revealed that a third have now lost more than 30% of their initial mass, releasing massive amounts of fresh water in the process.

Worryingly, scientists say this massive release of fresh water could threaten to destabilize ocean currents and contribute to global sea level rise.

Moreover, climate change caused by human activity means that the ice will continue to melt faster in the future, experts warn.

Scientists found that while almost all of the ice sheets on the East Coast were melting, many of the ice sheets on the West Coast remained the same size or grew.

This is due to the patterns of ocean currents that surround Antarctica, which carry water at different temperatures.

While the western side is exposed to warm waters that erode ice shelves from below, East Antarctica is protected by a strip of cold water near the shore.

Overall, 59 trillion tons of water have been added to the continent’s ice shelves since 1975.

However, this was offset by a loss of 67 trillion tons.

The largest losses occurred in the Getz Glacier, where 1.9 trillion tons of water were lost.

For perspective, a trillion tons of ice would make a cube more than six miles (10 kilometers) long in each direction — more than half a mile longer than Mount Everest!

Of this loss, 95 percent was due to melting, and 5 percent was due to “break-off,” where large chunks of ice break off into the ocean.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Antarctica, the Ameri Ice Shelf has gained 1.2 trillion tons of ice due to the cold waters surrounding it.

Dr. Benjamin Davison, who led the study, says that this evidence indicates a clear change in Antarctic ice.

“We would expect most ice shelves to go through cycles of rapid, but short-lived, shrinkage and then grow back slowly,” Dr Davidson said.

“Instead, we see about half of them shrinking with no sign of recovery.”

Dr. Davidson and his colleagues believe this change has been caused by human-caused global warming.

If the increased rate of melting was the result of natural factors such as a change in climate patterns, there would also have been evidence of ice regrowth in the typically warmer west.

The team behind this latest study is now concerned that the continued erosion of the ice sheet could have huge impacts on the wider climate.

Ice sheets floating on the sea act like giant “plugs” at the end of glaciers.

As they thin out or decrease in size, glaciers make their way to the sea faster, increasing the rate of ice loss to the ocean.

If ice shelves are removed or reduced, it could disrupt the Antarctic ice system as well as global ocean circulation.

In the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, dense, cold, salty water sinks to the ocean floor.

When water sinks, it forms the engine that drives the ocean’s giant “conveyor belt” or currents that transport nutrients and heat away from the delicate polar ecosystem.

Since the vast majority of water coming from melting ice sheets is fresh, this dilutes the ocean’s salinity, making it less dense and taking longer to sink, impairing ocean circulation.

Studies already show that this process may be beginning to weaken the delicate balance in Antarctica.

Recent research has revealed that the ice surrounding Antarctica, known as the sea ice extent, was at a historic low in September It has an area of ​​less than 6.5 million square miles (17 million square kilometers), according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

While this may sound like a lot, it is actually 580,000 square miles (1.5 million square kilometres) less than the September average – an area five times the size of the British Isles.

This comes after scientists revealed that the winter heatwave in March 2022 saw temperatures rise by 40 degrees Celsius above normal levels.

If this happened in the summer, scientists say it would be hot enough to melt the surface of the ice sheets; Something never seen before.

Activists said rapid warming has already caused a major southward shift and a contraction in the distribution of Antarctic krill – a keystone species.

A recent Greenpeace expedition to Antarctica also confirmed that gentoo penguins are breeding south as a result of the climate crisis.