Antarctica is a powerful influence on climate change, particularly sea level rise. Antarctica is also hard to study. Recent data suggest that the snow accumulation is exceeding the ice depletion, and may actually be decreasing sea level rise by 0.23 mm/yr. That’s good news. The bad news is that, because sea level rise is increasing, there must be some other effect that is being underpredicted by that -0.23 mm/yr but also the +0.27 mm/yr earlier analyses estimated. It is the nature of science to continually refine analyses and data; but the most obvious lesson is that we still have much to learn and understand about climate around the South Pole.
(Click on the map for the link.)
“Mass Gains Of Antarctic Ice Sheet Greater Than Losses” – NASA
Pretending Not To Panic 