"Sea Level Rise Now" News Digest

Article Synopsis – For years, scientists have debated whether heavy inland snowfall on the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet — Earth’s largest — balances out the rapid melting in West Antarctica. Most research has found that the melt rate is so high that the continent is losing ice, but a study by NASA in 2015 seemed to contradict those findings. The study, led by Jay Zwally, found that Antarctica was actually adding 80 billion tons of ice annually despite the high melt rate. The researchers cautioned, though, that the melt rate would likely outpace the snowfall in a decade or two. Now, the debate might be put to rest. Zwally and his team have discovered that melt rates in West Antarctica just increased significantly, putting the continent in overall balance. It is essentially now at the zero line, and if trends continue, the melt rate is poised to outpace the snow accumulation, resulting in a net ice loss- and contributing to sea level rise. To read the actual article click here.