Antarctica as a whole has only contributed 0.35 cm to sea level rise since 2003.
According to a new study published in a Nature journal, from 2020 to 2024 the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) gained mass at a rate of +67.5 Gt/yr, reversing the modest 2003 to 2019 mass loss (-100.6 Gt/yr) trend.
This recent 5-year mass gain trend was driven by a massive increase in snow and ice accumulation (SMB).
Combining the mass loss (2003-2019) and mass gain (2020-2024) trends, Antarctica as a whole contributed a grand total of just 0.35 cm to sea levels over this 21-year period.
Image Source: Kolbe et al., 2026
A Google search of NOAA’s Arctic Report Card record since 2020 indicates that over this same 5-year period (2020-2024) the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) mass loss rate slowed to -147 Gt/yr. This is a substantial deceleration when compared to the –267 Gt/yr mass loss trend from 2002-2019.
Image Source: Google searches for 2020-2024 NOAA Arctic Report Card
Together with the AIS 2020-2024 mass gain trend of +67.5 Gt/yr and GIS mass loss trend of -147 Gt/yr, we learn that GIS and AIS combined lost -79 Gt/yr over this 5-year period.
A total AIS and GIS mass loss rate of -79 Gt/yr translates to just +0.22 mm/yr of meltwater sea level rise equivalent from 2020-2024.
This would serve to undermine claims of a recent acceleration in the rates of sea level rise.
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Hi Pierre, Sorry this is off topic but I wanted to get this in front of you,
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/09/ai-designs-new-viruses-and-in-theory-bioweapons-just-one-more-reason-why-the-ai-arms-race-is-existential/
I see Germany is being just as self immolating as Australia with net zero and energy. One of the obvious consequences is you are left behind in AI because you can’t power the data centers!
I am left to wonder how much of our energy debasement is an active, passive or down stream consequence of Chinas active social media attacks on USAs’ energy and climate change positions?
[…] tuorein Kenneth Richardin juttu kertoo eteläisen mannerjäätikön kasvusta (Linkki). Pohjalla tuossa jutussa on varsin […]
[…] Of course this was nonsense. It still snows in Britain. Yet this didn’t stop a Bloomberg opinion crank from declaring in 2024 that snow was “becoming a thing of the past” because humans have been “warping the climate by burning fossil fuels.” We wonder how he’s handling the news in 2026 that the recent five-year mass gain in Antarctic ice sheet “was driven by a massive increase in snow and ice accumulation.” […]