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The research team, led by scientists from the University of Leeds, found that 71 of the 162 ice shelves around Antarctica have reduced in volume, releasing almost 67 trillion tonnes of meltwater into the ocean. Apart from the issue of the ice shelves losing mass, this addition of freshwater into the ocean could have implications for ocean circulation patterns.
This image of Antarctica’s Getz Ice Shelf has been compiled using radar images from Copernicus Sentinel-1 acquired between January and September 2023. New research has revealed alarming findings about the state of Antarctica’s ice shelves: 40% of these floating shelves have significantly reduced in volume over the past quarter-century. Credit: European Space Agency
In contrast, the Amery Ice Shelf – on the other side of Antarctica and surrounded by much colder waters – gained 1.2 trillion tonnes of ice. “Many of the ice shelves have deteriorated a lot: 48 lost more than 30% of their initial mass over just 25 years. This is further evidence that Antarctica is changing because the climate is warming.”