‘Imperiled’ Glaciers in East Antarctica Could Raise Global Sea Level 16 Feet

“For this research, we used an improved methodology with GRACE data to retrieve the mass loss in an area undergoing rapid change,” said lead author Yara Mohajerani, a graduate student in UCI’s Department of Earth System Science. “By overlaying these data with independent measurements, we improve our confidence in the results and the conclusion that Totten and Moscow University are imperiled.”

Making up roughly two-thirds of the Antarctic continent, East Antarctica has been viewed by polar researchers as less threatened by climate change than the volatile ice sheets in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.

“Both of these glaciers are vulnerable to the intrusion of warm ocean water and hold considerable potential for sea level rise,” said co-author Eric Rignot, Donald Bren Professor and chair of Earth system science at UCI. “This work highlights that East Antarctic glaciers are as important to our future as those in the continent’s western regions.”

According to co-author Isabella Velicogna, professor of Earth system science, it’s challenging to study the Totten and Moscow University glaciers because the signal of change is much weaker than that of their counterparts in the west.

“In this remote part of the world, the data from GRACE and other satellite missions are critical for us to understand the glacier evolution,” she said.

The research was supported by NASA’s GRACE and GRACE Follow-On, cryosphere, terrestrial hydrology, and National Student Leadership Conference programs. GRACE was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center.

Contacts and sources:
Brian Bell
University of California – Irvine

Citation: Mass Loss of Totten and Moscow University Glaciers, East Antarctica, Using Regionally Optimized GRACE Mascons.
Yara Mohajerani Isabella Velicogna Eric Rignot. Geophysical Research Letters, 2018 DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078173