Good news! Surprising recovery seen in these East Antarctic glaciers after years of melting: What to know

In a surprising turn of events, Antarctica reportedly saw a net gain of 107.79 gigatons of ice per year between 2021 and 2023. This was a rare occurrence, as data from NASA's GRACE and GRACE-FO missions have been telling a grim tale for almost two decades.

The data, which have been significant in tracking the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s mass changes over the years, showed that from 2002 to 2010, Antarctica lost ice at a rate of 73.79 gigatons per year. The figure then rose to 142.06 gigatons annually between 2011 and 2020, most of the loss coming from West Antarctica and the Wilkes Land-Queen Mary Land (WL-QML) region in East Antarctica, as reported by Business Today.

The good news

The gain between 2021 and 2023 was especially pronounced in four East Antarctic glacier basins — Totten, Moscow, Denman and Vincennes Bay. Previously, these areas were losing mass due to reduced surface accumulation and faster ice discharge. These glaciers have now begun accumulating ice again.

There have been significant implications for sea-level rise. The AIS added that approximately 0.20 mm per year to global sea levels between 2002 and 2010, a number that surged to 0.39 mm per year from 2011 to 2020.

However, Antarctica's mass gain helped offset sea-level rise by 0.30 mm per year in 2021-2023. Researchers believe this anomaly can be majorly linked to an increase in snowfall over the continent.

However, the four glaciers that recently rebounded are actually among the most unstable glaciers of Antarctica, and hence the gains may just be temporary. In fact, sea levels can rise up by more than 7 meters, should there be a total collapse.

Researchers from Tongji University, led by Dr. Wei Wang and Professor Yunzhong Shen, found that accelerated mass loss stems from two main factors – reduced surface mass balance (contributing 72.53% of the intensification) and increased ice discharge into the ocean (responsible for 27.47%). “This accelerated mass loss was primarily driven by two factors: surface mass reduction (contributing 72.53%) and increased ice discharge (27.47%),” the researchers said, according to scienceblog.com.