Antarctica Losing Ice To Global Warming

Two new studies show that Antarctica is losing ice because of global warming and contributing to higher sea levels, disproving earlier projections that increased snowfall would compensate for melting ice.

1 minute read

March 7, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By Charles Siegel


"Two new satellite surveys show that warming air and water are causing Antarctica to lose ice faster than it can be replenished by interior snowfall, and thus are contributing to rising global sea levels.

The studies differed significantly in estimates of how much water was being added to the oceans this way, but their authors both said that the work added credence to recent conclusions that global warming caused by humans was likely to lead to higher sea levels than previous studies had predicted.

The earlier projections presumed that snowfall over Antarctica, as well as Greenland, would increase as warming added moisture to the air, compensating for the losses of ice from crumbling or melting along coasts."

Friday, March 3, 2006 in The New York Times

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