BRUSSELS: Around 40 per cent of Antarctica’s ice shelves have significantly shrunk over the last 25 years, scientists said on Thursday, in findings the European Space Agency said were “alarming.”
Out of Antarctica’s 162 ice shelves, 71 experienced mass loss from 1997 to 2021, with 68 exhibiting statistically significant shrinkage, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
These losses, surpassing the normal fluctuations of ice shelves, contribute to the mounting evidence of how human-induced climate change is impacting Antarctica. Lead author Benjamin Davison, a research fellow at the University of Leeds, expressed surprise at the sustained and widespread shrinkage: “We expected most ice shelves to go through cycles of rapid, but short-lived shrinking, then to regrow slowly. Instead, we see that almost half of them are shrinking with no sign of recovery.”
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During the study period, 29 ice shelves gained mass, and 62 showed no significant change. Notably, 48 of the ice shelves lost more than 30% of their mass over the 25-year span. The primary driver of this melting was identified as ocean currents and winds on Antarctica’s western side, which push warm water beneath the ice shelves.
Ice shelves, acting as floating platforms around the Antarctic continent, play a crucial role in protecting and stabilizing the region’s glaciers by impeding their flow into the ocean. The melting of large ice shelves introduces freshwater into the ocean, potentially influencing ocean circulation, as noted by the European Space Agency, whose satellite radar images contributed to the study.
The recent data revealed record-low levels of sea ice around Antarctica this winter, heightening scientists’ concerns about the escalating impact of climate change at the southern pole.
