New research on Antarctica found in two separate studies that reference multiple optical and radar satellite sensors has revealed that the ice loss in Antarctica is much worse than previous estimates.
Two studies that investigated calving — the term that describes the breaking off of chunks of ice from the edge of a glacier — found that the crumbling ice in Antarctica is actually double that of previous estimates and details how the continent is changing. The two studies were led by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California and reveal what NASA says is “unexpected” new data about how the Antarctic Ice Sheet has been losing mass in recent decades.
Image: The 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) front of the Getz Ice Shelf in Antarctica is scored with cracks where icebergs are likely to break off, or calve, in this 2016 photo. The first estimate of Antarctic calving has found that since 1997 ice shelves have lost as much ice from calving as from melting. | Credits: NASA/GSFC/OIB
