Snowfall-Driven Growth in East Antarctic Ice Sheet Mitigates Recent Sea-Level Rise

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Davis, Curt H., Li, Yonghong, McConnell, Joseph R., Frey, Markus M., Hanna, Edward
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2005
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1110662; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1110662

Satellite radar altimetry measurements indicate that the East Antarctic ice-sheet interior north of 81.6°S increased in mass by 45 ± 7 billion metric tons per year from 1992 to 2003. Comparisons with contemporaneous meteorological model snowfall estimates suggest that the gain in mass was associated with increased precipitation. A gain of this magnitude is enough to slow sea-level rise by 0.12 ± 0.02 millimeters per year.