Antarctic Sea Levels are Rising Faster Than the Rest of the World's with Climate Change

It turns out that Antarctica's waters may be rising far faster than first expected. Scientists have taken a new look at the satellite data from the last 19 years and have found that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea-level around the coast of Antarctica to rise by 2 cm more than the global average of 6 cm.

"Freshwater is less dense than salt water and so in regions where an excess of freshwater has accumulated we expect a localized rise in sea level," said Craig Rye, lead author of the new paper, in a news release.

In order to find out exactly by how much sea levels have risen in the past several years, the researchers examined satellite scans of a region that spans more than a million square kilometers. They also conducted computer simulations of the effect of melting glaciers on the Antarctic Ocean. In the end, the models actually closely mirrored the real life picture of the satellite data.

"The computer model supports our theory that the sea-level rise we see in our satellite data is almost entirely caused by freshening (a reduction in the salinity of the water) from the melting of the ice sheet and its fringing ice shelves," said Rye. "The interaction between air, sea and ice in these seas is central to the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and global sea levels, as well as other environmental processes, such as the generation of Antarctic bottom water, which cools and ventilates much of the global ocean abyss."

In fact, the researchers found that the melting in combination with the thinning of the floating ice shelves has contributed to a release of about 350 gigatons of freshwater into the surrounding ocean. This, in particular, has resulted in a reduction of salinity.

The findings reveal that the melting may cause some big changes for the region. More specifically, the reduction of salinity could have major impacts for marine life and ecosystems in the region.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.