From the article:
The rate at which Antarctica is losing ice has tripled since 2007, according to the latest available data. . . .
Between 1992 and 2017, Antarctica shed three trillion tons of ice. . . . 40 percent of that increase came from the last five years of the study period, from 2012 to 2017. . . .
East Antarctica has sometimes been a focus of attention for people who deny the science of global warming. . . .
The researchers concluded that the changes in East Antarctica were not nearly enough to make up for the rapid loss seen in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica is, on balance, losing its ice sheets and raising the world’s sea levels. . . .
“Now when we look . . . we can see actually that the signal is very different to what we’ve seen before,” Dr. [Andrew] Shepherd said. The rate of sea level rise due to Antarctic ice loss has tripled since 2012 alone, he said.
Advancements in Earth-observing satellites have enabled researchers to better understand the polar regions. Many researchers once thought the polar regions would add ice as the climate warmed, because warmer temperatures lead to more moisture in the atmosphere, which leads to more rain, and, they thought, more snow at the poles. Direct observation from satellites upended that view. . . .
The satellite observations also show what’s driving the loss of ice in Antarctica. “This study shows that we’re actually losing more mass along the edges of the ice sheet, where the ice sheet is making contact with the ocean, and that the warming oceans are melting the ice,” Dr. [Michele] Koppes said. “They’re melting the ice at rates that far exceed anything that would change in the air, and these are forces that you can’t reverse easily.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/climate/antarctica-ice-melting-faster.html
