Antarctica ice melt loss has increased six-fold

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According to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Antarctica has been losing six times more ice mass annually than 40 years ago due to climate-induced melting.

This rapid rate of melting has increased global sea levels by more than half an inch.The research was conducted by glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Netherlands' Utrecht University, who studied 18 regions in Antarctica including 176 basins and neighboring islands from 1979 to 2017.

The team found that the ice continent had shed 40 gigatons of mass annually from 1979 to 1990. The rate of loss increased six-fold to 252 gigatons per year between 2009 to 2017.

The they gathered data by analyzing aerial images taken by NASA's Operation IceBridge, observing satellite radar interferometry from multiple space agencies and studying Landsat satellite imagery series which have been ongoing since the 1970s.

Another study published in the journal Nature GeoScience revealed that variations in Earth's axial tilt, known as obliquity, affect the rise and fall of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

They also discovered a thin frozen layer of ocean water that surrounds Antarctica, known as sea ice, is vital in order to protect large portions of the continent's underwater ice from warmer waters.

RUNDOWN SHOWS:
1. Antarctica melting due to climate induced-warming, heat map view
2. Research location and Antarctica ice mass loss
3. Research methodology and data sources
4. Effect of Earth's axial tilt on Antarctic ice sheet

VOICEOVER (in English):
"According to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Antarctica has been losing six times more ice mass annually than 40 years ago due to climate-induced melting."

"This rapid rate of melting has increased global sea levels by more than half an inch."

"The forty-year long research was conducted by glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Netherlands' Utrecht University who studied 18 regions in Antarctica including 176 basins and neighboring islands from 1979 to 2017."

"The team found that the ice continent had shed 40 gigatons of mass annually from 1979 to 1990. The rate of loss increased six-fold to 252 gigatons per year between 2009 to 2017."

"The team gathered data by analyzing aerial images taken by NASA's Operation IceBridge, observing satellite radar interferometry from multiple space agencies and studying Landsat satellite imagery series which have been ongoing since the 1970s."

"Another study published in the journal Nature GeoScience revealed that variations in Earth's axial tilt, known as obliquity, affect the rise and fall of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. "

"That team also discovered a thin frozen layer of ocean water that surrounds Antarctica, known as sea ice, is vital in order to protect large portions of the continent's underwater ice from warmer waters."

"Currently, sea ice levels in Antarctica are at their lowest since measurements started in 1979."

SOURCES:

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