Antarctic Ice Melt – Fred Pickhardt
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Antarctica is 98% ice covered and contains 90 percent of Earth’s total ice volume. Melting ice is limited mainly to West Antarctica which is offset by ice mass gains over the remainder of Antarctica.
The mass of the Antarctic ice sheet has changed over the last decades. Research based on observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites (2002-2025) and GRACE Follow-On (since 2018) indicates that between 2002 and 2025, Antarctica shed approximately 135 gigatons of ice per year, causing global sea level to rise by 0.4 millimeters per year. Since 2020, however, the Antarctic has seen little or no ice mass loss.
At this rate, an additional 28 mm (1.1 inches) of sea level rise can be anticipated by 2100. If the Antarctic ice melt would triple between now and 2100 we should expect an additional 42 mm (1.7 inches) of sea level rise due to Antarctic melt. Forensic Marine Weather Expert
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