ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET

The 'Antarctic ice sheet' is one of the two polar ice caps of the Earth. It covers about 98% of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on Earth. The total ice mass on the Earth covers an area of almost 14 million square km and contains 30 million cubic km of ice. Around 90% of that, or 27 million cubic km, is located in Antarctica. That is, approximately 61 percent of all fresh water on the Earth is held in the Antarctic ice sheet, an amount equivalent to 70 m of water in the world's oceans. In East Antarctica, the ice sheet rests on a major land mass, but in West Antarctica the bed can extend to more than 2,500 m below sea level. The land would be seabed if the ice sheet were not there.^[1]
Ice enters the sheet through snow and frost and leaves by calving of icebergs and melting, usually at the base but also sometimes at the surface at warm sites.
Satellite data reported by NASA had shown evidence in 2002 that the total amount of ice in Antarctica had increased in the previous few decades^[2]. This was significant because there is a large amount of ice in the area and some climate models predicting global warming also predict that some of the most severe warming should occur in Antarctica. On the other hand, a warming climate in the southern hemisphere would transport more moisture to Antarctica so the ice sheet would in fact grow and could somewhat counteract rising sea levels. However, more recent satellite data suggests that the total amount of ice in Antarctica has begun decreasing in the past few years^[3]. This melting ice could raise sea levels significantly if it continues.

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See also

References

See also

★ Geography of Antarctica

★ Greenland ice sheet

★ Ice sheet

★ Ice shelf

★ Polar ice

★ Ross Ice Shelf

★ West Antarctic Ice Sheet

★ List of Glaciers in Antarctica

References

1. British Antarctic Survey: The Antarctic Ice Sheet and Rising Sea Levels
2. Satellites Show Overall Increases in Antarctic Sea Ice Cover
3.