Melting of 'Three Trillion Tons' of Antarctic Ice in the Past Quarter Century

Based on research by a group of scientists, the rate of melting of Antarctic ice has reached an alarming level, with nearly three trillion tons of ice disappearing from the continent since 1992. A group of scientists, in collaboration with NASA and the European Space Agency, published a report on Wednesday, June 13, in the journal Nature, expressing serious concerns about the trend of Antarctic ice melting. According to this report, in the last 25 years of the 20th century, the amount of melting ice in the South was sufficient to fill the entire state of Texas to a height of four meters, equivalent to a 7.6 millimeter rise in sea levels. The research adds that Antarctica lost an average of 84 billion tons of ice per year from 1992 to 2011. From 2012 to 2017, this amount increased threefold to 241 billion tons per year. Irwin Isabella Velikonia, one of the 88 authors of this research, states, 'I think we should be concerned. This does not mean we should be helpless. Events are happening faster than we might expect.' These scientists predict that by the end of the 21st century, the melting of Antarctic ice alone will raise sea levels by nearly 16 centimeters, not accounting for the melting of Arctic ice. The melting of the South is primarily due to the warming of ocean waters rather than atmospheric warming. According to Andrew Shepherd, one of the scientists on this research team, the warming of ocean waters in Antarctica is a result of changing wind patterns, which in turn is due to global warming and climate changes caused by fossil fuels.