Recent research shows that Antarctica has gained ice in recent years, despite the rise in average global temperatures and ongoing climate change.
Utilizing data from NASA satellites, researchers at Nzi University in Shanghai have monitored the Antarctic ice sheet for more than two decades. Although the overall trend indicates significant ice loss on the continent, from 2021 to 2023, Antarctica has actually regained some of the ice that was previously lost.
This does not imply, however, that global warming and climate change are reversing. Envision a long ski slope with a slight jump; this resembles the trajectory seen in the Antarctic ice sheet data when graphed. While some recent gains are noted, they do not even begin to offset nearly 20 years of losses.
Most of the gains can be attributed to abnormal patterns of increased precipitation (both snow and rain) over Antarctica, leading to the formation of additional ice. Levels of Antarctic ice fluctuate on an annual basis, and it seems the gains have somewhat diminished since the end of the observation period in early 2024, with NASA’s reports indicating a trend similar to 2025 that mirrors 2020, just prior to the unexpected ice gains.
Related: What lies beneath the ice in Antarctica?
The Antarctic ice sheet holds the title of the largest body of ice on Earth, surpassing the entire size of the United States, and contains about 90% of the world’s freshwater. Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition engages in various environmental advocacy efforts. Surrounding the Antarctic is sea ice (frozen seawater), which extends during winter and withdraws back to the coastline in summer.
This latest study was published on March 19 in Science China Earth Science and analyzed NASA data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and subsequent satellites that have been tracking this ice sheet since 2002. Understanding changes to the ice sheet is crucial as melting contributes to sea level rise, which is a significant factor in global climate change.
Satellite data has revealed that the ice sheet saw continuous loss between 2002 and 2020. The rate of ice loss accelerated towards the end of that period, increasing from approximately 81 billion tons (74 billion metric tons) annually from 2002 to 2010, to about 157 billion tons (142 billion metric tons) per year from 2011 to 2020. However, subsequent data indicate a shift.
Between 2021 and 2023, the ice sheet gained mass at an average rate of roughly 119 billion tons (108 metric tons) annually. Notably, four glaciers in eastern Antarctica have shown a reversal from accelerated ice loss to significant mass gains.
“This isn’t particularly unusual,” stated Tom Slater, an environmental science researcher at Northumbria University in the UK, who was not part of the study. “In warmer climates, the atmosphere retains more moisture, which leads to a greater likelihood of extreme weather events, including heavy snowfall that has contributed to recent substantial increases in the southeast,” he noted in an email to Live Science.
A 2023 study indicated that between 2021 and 2022, Antarctica experienced unprecedented mass gains. This earlier research, conducted by many of the same authors of the latest study, found that high precipitation anomalies were responsible for these ice benefits. Current research suggests that this trend persisted until at least 2023.
Slater cautioned that researchers believe these ice gains may be temporary.
“The majority of the ice loss from Antarctica’s ice sheet originates from other glaciers that are accelerating and flowing into warmer waters,” Slater explained. “This process continues. While the recent snowfall temporarily offsets these losses, it hasn’t halted them, so we do not expect this to reflect a long-term change in Antarctica’s patterns.”
The Global Warming Landscape
Climate change does not imply that every region on the planet will heat at the same rate; thus, a single area will never provide the complete narrative of our warming world. Historically, many temperatures in Antarctica have remained relatively stable, especially when compared to the warming Arctic Circle, which has seen temperatures rise four times faster than the global average. Notably, the sea ice surrounding Antarctica has demonstrated greater stability than that in the Arctic; however, recent years have shown a shift in this trend.
In 2023, researchers concluded that Antarctic ocean ice levels were at a record low, which is highly unlikely to occur without the influence of climate change. Concurrently, global sea ice cover has consistently decreased, approaching record lows, while Earth’s temperature regularly reaches or nears unprecedented highs.
Signed by global leaders in 2015, the Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) and keep it well below 3.6 F (2 C). However, this commitment has been noticeably breached, with April 2025 showing violations of the 2.7 F limit in 21 of the last 22 months, according to Copernicus Climate Change Services in the European Union.
Source: www.livescience.com