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ESA's CryoSat data: Antarctica's ice sheet shrinking faster than ever

By Anthony Wood
May 19, 2014
ESA's CryoSat data: Antarctica's ice sheet shrinking faster than ever
An artists impression of the ESA's CryoSat satellite (Image: ESA)
An artists impression of the ESA's CryoSat satellite (Image: ESA)
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An artists impression of the ESA's CryoSat satellite (Image: ESA)
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An artists impression of the ESA's CryoSat satellite (Image: ESA)
Recent observations of Antarctica suggest as much as 159 billion tonnes of ice is lost each year (Image: CPOM/Leeds/ESA)
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Recent observations of Antarctica suggest as much as 159 billion tonnes of ice is lost each year (Image: CPOM/Leeds/ESA)

An analysis of data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) CryoSat satellite shows that ice loss in the Antarctic is increasing at an exponential rate. It is estimated that the polar region now loses 159 billion tonnes of ice each year, with the worst instances of degradation located in the Western area of the Amundsen Sea.

The CryoSat satellite has been designed to take precise measurements of Earth's polar regions in an attempt to further understand how climate change is affecting these remote, yet vital, areas of our planet. The satellite is equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), an instrument used to measure ice sheet elevation with a high degree of accuracy. SIRAL collects these readings by sending pulses (at an interval of around 50 microseconds) down to the surface, then collecting echoes of those pulses to determine the elevation of the ice sheets.

The UK-based Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling analyzed data collected over three years (by nearly continuous surveillance) from CryoSat, to create the world's first comprehensive assessment of elevation change in the Antarctic ice sheets. Results of the analysis found that ice loss in the polar region was 31 percent greater than that of the previous period of observation (from 2005-2011), with substantial thinning of the ice in the Amundsen Sea area of West Antarctica.

Recent observations of Antarctica suggest as much as 159 billion tonnes of ice is lost each year (Image: CPOM/Leeds/ESA)
Recent observations of Antarctica suggest as much as 159 billion tonnes of ice is lost each year (Image: CPOM/Leeds/ESA)

“Although we are fortunate to now have, in CryoSat, a routine capability to monitor the polar ice sheets, the increased thinning we have detected in West Antarctica is a worrying development,” states Prof. Andrew Shepherd, leader of the study. He continues, “It adds concrete evidence that dramatic changes are under way in this part of our planet. The challenge is to use this evidence to test and improve the predictive skill of climate models.”

The implications of these findings have the potential to be devastating in the long term, as ice loss standing as a leading contributor to rising sea levels. A significant increase in the global sea level has the potential to put coastal cities, such as Venice, Italy, at serious risk. ESA's researchers estimate that the loss of ice over the last three years alone has been substantial enough to raise the global sea-level by around 0.45 mm (.018 in) every year.

The findings of the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling are available in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Source: ESA

Tags

EnvironmentSatelliteGlobal WarmingClimate CrisisESAAntarcticCryoSat
20 comments
Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood
Anthony is a UK-based writer and recent law school graduate who also has a degree in Ancient History, for some reason or another, and a passion for anything do to with space.

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20 comments
Rann Xeroxx
So is this loss after the 35 year high?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/09/23/antarctic-sea-ice-hit-35-year-record-high-saturday/
How about sea level rise? It been rising since the last ice age and accelerating before the age of AGW but now that acceleration is slowing down...
http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/24/slowing-sea-level-rise/
Nothing to see here folks.
JeffC
hmmm ... the picture seems to show that 99% of the Antarctic is not losing ice at all ... the odd thing is Antarctic sea ice has grown to record levels this year ... this picture is of the land ice ... which is as much as 15,000 feet thick in places and averages over 6,000 feet thick ... so how long would it take to melt (if it is indeed melting) to disappear at 2 meters per year across the entire continent ? hmmm ... 1,000 years ...
I guess not much math being taught in law school and ancient history these days ...
I am curious how global warming is melting this ice ... the average temperature of the Antarctic is - 50 F ... wouldn't it need to warm up about 80 degrees before it could melt ice ?
also Antarctic temperatures have been going down for several years so why is the ice melting ? hmm, I wonder if there might be some volcanic activity, you know, under the ice ...
Lumpy
Back in the 1970,s the climate scientist idiots predicted an coming ice age. Remember this?.....
http://www.populartechnology.net/2013/02/the-1970s-global-cooling-alarmism.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_861us8D9M
ivan4
JeffC, you are not supposed to say sensible things like that, the global warming priesthood will get all upset.
The other thing that is not talked about very much is the Antarctic Vortex that helps to keep the cold in.
Daishi
@JeffC I found some data on your claim here: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice-basic.htm
It looks like the Antarctic is gain sea ice... but losing land ice. Based on the that link land ice is being lost at a rate faster than sea ice mass is being gained. It's also important to note that land ice doesn't contribute to sea level rise to the extent that sea level ice does. That website estimates an overall sea level rise of 0.19 mm/yr.
This new article (which is newer data) estimates sea level rise from the ice at 0.45 mm/year.
Also a quick check of Wikipedia on Climate_of_Antarctica: "Along the Antarctic Peninsula, temperatures as high as 15°C (59°F) have been recorded" so temps do reach above freezing.
I did see once source that confirmed that Antarctic temps were dropping recently. The famous hole in the ozone layer was above the Antarctic and is known to be shrinking now. I can't tell you why land ice continues to be melting despite a dropping average temperatures. Sea ice could be attributed to something more dynamic like change in ocean currents.
joeblake
JeffC,
"so how long would it take to melt"
There's no necessity for the ice to "melt" in order to change the sea level. In recent times there have been reports of large areas of ice calving from glaciers and floating in the ocean. Once the ice is floating freely it displaces its maximum amount of water.
In an experiment you CAN do at home, fill a glass with water until it overflows. Place an ice cube in the water, which will then further flow over the edge of the glass. But as the ice melts, there is no further overflow, showing that the ice displaces its mass in water, not volume, which is why there is ice above the water surface.
So although the Antarctic ice may be growing in thickness, it can still be responsible for raising the sea level, as a small amount of melt water will flow under the glaciers and lubricate the system, causing the ice to flow more quickly and calve icebergs. (This phenomenon was observed during the Icelandic volcanic eruption several years ago.)
Justin Doyle
JeffC,
Strangely enough climate scientists have thought of that and already given explanations: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm
Sea Ice may be increasing, but Land Ice is disappearing at an alarming rate. If I drop an ice cream on the pavement it spreads out before melting completely, having a larger surface area doesn't mean the ice cream is AOK.
Also, the entirety of Antarctica doesn't have to melt before sea levels start to rise.
Finally the ice is melting because the oceans are warming. "The land ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is not due to surface melting, as the summer temperatures in Antarctica are generally always below freezing, and measured changes in precipitation cannot explain it either. Instead, the melting is occurring due to warm ocean water melting the land ice around its edges, resulting in a spreading of this ice loss inland:" Which would explain the image above showing melting around the edges.
Finally finally, please stop posting on this, you're not helping anyone.
Justin Doyle
For goodness sakes Lumpy, I don't even have to open another site to debunk that one:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/ice-age-predictions-in-1970s.htm
Do us a favour next time and check that site before you post anything that's already been thoroughly debunked.
christopher
The entire topic is moot.
It's a plain and simple impossibility to convince 7.2++ billion people to radically change their lifestyle - for developed peoples to stop making stuff, for developing peoples to stop cooking, and for all of us to stop reproducing. Quibble, if you will, over percentages, but we're not even the sole warming cause anyhow.
We think we can change the world. We live in all manner of dumb places. Only our arrogance exceeds our stupidity. What is even the point of measuring ice, when we're powerless to change anything? Scratch-that - my hat goes off to the geeks who scammed an awesome expedition to cool places at taxpayer expense :-)
b@man
This is just global warming propaganda. Antarctica is Cooling/Gaining Ice. Quit listening to these lying fools.
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