NASA: Antarctica Ice Gains Offset Losses

A study from NASA shows that Antarctica is gaining enough ice to outweigh its climate change-induced losses. According to the study, the icy continent gained a net 112 billion tons of ice per year from 1992 to 2001, then slowed to 82 billion tons between 2003 and 2008. “We’re essentially in agreement with other studies that show an increase in ice discharge in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Thwaites and Pine Island region of West Antarctica,” said Jay Zwally, a glaciologist and lead author of the NASA study. “Our main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica—there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas.” Zwally warned, however, that if the ice losses continue at their current rate, “the losses will catch up with the long-term gain in East Antarctica in 20 or 30 years—I don’t think there will be enough snowfall increase to offset these losses.”