Ice losses from Antarctica have increased global sea levels by 7.6 mm since 1992, with two fifths of this rise (3 mm) coming in the last five years alone.The findings are from a major climate assessment known as the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE), to which TU Delft also contributed, and are published on June 14th in Nature.
The research, led by the University of Leeds and NASA, shows that prior to 2012, Antarctica lost ice at a steady rate of 76 billion tonnes per year – a 0.2 mm per year contribution to sea level rise. However, since then there has been a sharp, threefold increase. Between 2012 and 2017 the continent lost 219 billion tonnes of ice per year – a 0.6 mm per year sea level contribution.
TU Delft researchers contributed significantly to the publication, through mass calculations from GRACE satellite data and through post glacial rebound models. According to the Delft researchers, the publication gives a better consistency between measurements and models of Antarctica, leading to better insight into the contribution to sea level rise.
