The Climate Iceman Cometh

We hear a lot about melting glaciers and ice loss in Greenland and the Arctic (which may also be “pausing” at the moment), but less about Antarctica, perhaps because the news is less convenient to The Narrative. This from NASA three days ago:

NASA Study: Mass Gains of Antarctic Ice Sheet Greater than Losses

A new NASA study says that an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers.

The research challenges the conclusions of other studies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2013 report, which says that Antarctica is overall losing land ice.

You mean the science isn’t settled? Not to worry. NASA manages to Keep Hope Alive further down in the news release:

But it might only take a few decades for Antarctica’s growth to reverse, according to Zwally. “If the losses of the Antarctic Peninsula and parts of West Antarctica continue to increase at the same rate they’ve been increasing for the last two decades, the losses will catch up with the long-term gain in East Antarctica in 20 or 30 years — I don’t think there will be enough snowfall increase to offset these losses.”

Well that’s a relief.

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