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For many years, global warming and climate change have been important concerns. One of the most important markers of this phenomena is the melting of ice in the polar regions. Tongji University researchers in Shanghai have been using NASA satellite data to study changes in Antarctica's ice sheet for more than 20 years. Their most recent study found that, despite rising global temperatures, Antarctica has acquired ice in recent years. However, it cannot be regarded a miracle turnaround in global warming because, during the last two decades, the overall trend has been significant ice loss. The majority of the increases have been generated by very high precipitation over Antarctica.
About the New Study
According to the latest study, NASA's Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On satellites have been monitoring the ice sheet since 2002. The ice sheet covering Antarctica is the greatest amount of ice on the planet.
Satellite data indicated that the sheet lost ice consistently between 2002 and 2020. According to the study, ice loss accelerated in the second half of that timeframe, rising from an average annual loss of around 81 billion tons (74 billion metric tons) between 2002 and 2010, to a loss of nearly 157 billion tons (142 billion metric tons) between 2011 and 2020. However, the tendency altered.
From 2021 to 2023, the ice sheet expanded at an average annual pace of around 119 billion tons (108 metric tons). Four glaciers in eastern Antarctica also transitioned from fast ice loss to considerable mass increase.
General Trend in Global Warming
Climate change does not imply that all on Earth will become hotter at the same rate, thus a single place can never represent the full narrative of our warming globe.
Historically, temperatures in much of Antarctica have been rather steady, especially when contrasted to the Arctic. Antarctica's sea ice has also been far more stable than the Arctic, however this has been changing in recent years.
