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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2005-06, Vol.308 (5730), p.1898-1901
Main Authors: Davis, Curt H, Li, Yonghong, McConnell, Joseph R, Frey, Markus M, Hanna, Edward
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antarctic regions
Artificial satellites
Average linear density
Climate change
Climatic changes
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental aspects
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Glaciers
Ice
Ice sheets
International environmental cooperation
Measurement
Meteorological satellites
Observations
Ocean currents
Physics of the oceans
Precipitation
Radar
Sea level
Sea level rise
Snow
Snow. Ice. Glaciers
Surface waves, tides and sea level. Seiches
Time series
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1110662