Greenland and Antarctica lost more than 12 trillion tons of ice in just 47 years, causing the world's ocean levels to rise by about 31.4 millimeters.
This was announced by an international team of scientists in a study published in the journal "Scientific Data".
As is well known, Greenland and Antarctica contain the largest portion of fresh water on the planet, and the complete melting of their ice could raise the ocean level by tens of meters, which would be a real disaster for the planet's inhabitants.
Although talk of such a dire scenario in the foreseeable future is still far off, current rates of ice loss, which contribute to rising ocean levels, are worrying, especially with the noticeable acceleration of global warming.
For example, the El Niño phenomenon recently set a new record, exceeding climate scientists' predictions about when it would peak. The peak occurred several months earlier, raising the temperature at its center to 3.05 degrees Celsius, the highest level ever recorded in meteorological and hydrological history.
The implications of this record are also worrying, as 2027 is expected to be the hottest year on record. The greatest impact will be felt in the Southern Hemisphere, and consequently in Antarctica. Such heat will accelerate ice melt and continue to raise sea levels.
Science has long identified the main cause of these climate changes as human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide, which continue to increase despite various international agreements.
As humanity continues to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, the ocean absorbs most of the heat that remains in the atmosphere and biosphere. The more thermal energy that enters oceanic systems, the warmer their waters become, and the more active the currents become.
In Greenland, this leads to what is called the "Atlantic," where warmer waters from the Atlantic Ocean penetrate further north than ever before, reaching the world's second-largest ice sheet.
In Antarctica, the world's largest ice sheet, the currents surrounding the polar continent are also increasing due to stronger winds and warmer water. While these currents bring warmer water into contact with the ice sheets at the planet's extremes, they also penetrate deeper and beneath the glaciers, carrying heat to new areas.
Since the 1990s, ice loss has accelerated considerably, and there are no clear indications that this trend can be reversed.
However, when studying records during the period 2020-2023, it may appear that the situation in Antarctica has stabilized, but this is merely a reflection of short-term weather changes.
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