A new study by an international team of scientists has shown that more than three trillion tonnes of ice have melted in Antarctica since the year 1992. This shows that the ice loss is now triple than the normal amount which is going to lead to a dramatic rise in sea levels.
Because of all the melted ice, the global sea level has risen by 7.6 millimetres. According to scientists, this water is enough to cover Texas to a calculated depth of 13 feet.
Loss of ice over the years :
Antarctica has lost 84 billion tonnes of ice each year from 1992 till 2011. This rate increased when nearly 241 billion tonnes of ice was lost from 2011 till 2017, according to a study in the journal Nature.
Andrew Shepherd of University of Leeds, England said that Antarctica alone can contribute half a foot of water to the sea level rise by the end of this century.
Due to increasing global warming, ice from land glaciers and Greenland's dwindling ice sheets are also melting and causing the increase in the warm water expansion.
Major cause of this dramatic melt :
The biggest cause of melting ice in Antarctica is warm water. The water nibbles at the floating edges of existing ice sheets from below which causes them to melt a lot faster than normal.
The warming of this water is caused by the increased global warming due to the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
"Under natural conditions, we don't expect the ice sheet to lose ice at all," Shepherd said. "There are no other plausible signals to be driving this other than climate change." Shepherd cautioned that this is not a formal study that determines human fingerprints on climate events.
Study of the ice loss :
The team of scientists adopted the non-conventional method of studying the situation by looking at it in 24 different ways, using 10 to 15 different satellites along with ground and air measurements and computer simulations.
Forces that are driving these changes are not going to get any better in a warming climate.
Ice melt concentrated to West Antarctica :
Reports say that more than 70 per cent of the ice melt is taking place in West Antarctica.
East Antarctica is losing ice at a relatively smaller rate of 31 tonnes per year since 2012. Before 2012, East Antarctica was gaining ice. The study also shows that this rate is going to stay constant for the next couple of decades.
Impact of this change :
Scientists have predicted that if this rate of ice melt remains constant, the global air temperature could rise by 5 degree Celsius and we could witness a 3.5-meter rise in the global sea level.
The temperature of the ocean can also rise by 2 degree Celsius which means that more carbon dioxide will be retained in the water causing more global warming.
Scientists from all over the world are considering this situation dire, some even saying that it's too late for us to make a change to prevent this in the future.