Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Climate Change and Environmental Issues Antarctica lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice in blink of an eye

"We have long suspected that changes in Earth’s climate will affect the polar ice sheets. Thanks to the satellites our space agencies have launched, we can now track their ice losses and global sea level contribution with confidence,"....

West Antarctica is currently bearing the brunt of this loss, as its glacial ice shelves have been melted from below by warming deep ocean water. According to the study, the rate of loss in that part of the content has increased from 53 billion tonnes per year in the 1990s, up to the current rate of 159 billion tonnes per year. The Antarctic Peninsula - the portion of the continent that reaches out for the southern tip of South America - has seen an increase from an average of 7 billion tonnes per year, up to 33 billion tonnes per year in that same time period.