Snowfall accumulation increased over the 20th century in Antarctica

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory represents an increase in snowfall accumulation over Antarctica during the 20th century, which was estimated to offset global sea level rise by one centimeter.

However, this additional gain of ice only makes up for one third of the total ice loss in Antarctica.

Study lead author Brooke Medley is a glaciologist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Our findings don’t mean that Antarctica is growing; it is still losing mass, even with the extra snowfall,” said Medley. “What it means is that without these gains, we would have experienced even more sea level rise in the 20th century.”

This image is a map of accumulated mass change over Antarctica from 1900 to 2000.
—

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
.