Ice mass variation in Antarctica 2002-2023

Antarctica's ice mass has been on a mostly downward trend since 2002, despite some fluctuation. As of June 2023, the ice mass in Antarctica had decreased by nearly 2.3 trillion metric tons in comparison to April 16, 2002. This represented a loss rate of some 146 billion metric tons per year. Greenland's ice mass has followed a similar trend over the same period of time.

Why are glaciers important?

Antarctica, the Earth’s southernmost and least-populated continent, accounts for more than 90 percent of the glacier area worldwide. While glaciers and ice caps act as giant freshwater reservoirs, storing nearly 70 percent of the planet’s freshwater, glacial ice also reflects excess heat back into space helping keep the Earth cooler.

How is ice mass change measured?

NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have tracked the Earth’s gravitational field every 30 days since 2002. Considering that gravity is determined by mass, and most of the planet’s mass – its land and core – does not change much in a month, following the Earth’s gravity variation allows to calculate how much ice mass are Antarctica and Greenland shedding.