A new study reports Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) glacier melt has added a grand total of just 0.74 cm to sea levels from 1992-2020. The authors apparently consider this amount − +0.26 mm/yr of meltwater equivalent − highly alarming.
The study assesses 203 glaciers in the AIS Western Peninsula and documents a statistically significant rising surface mass balance (SMB) trend since 1980 and stable to slightly positive glacier elevation change (+0.02 m per year) from 1989 to 2020.
A 40-year positive SMB trend suggests the region is storing more water as snow and ice on land rather than releasing it into the ocean.
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