The Biggest Losers

  • Released Tuesday, April 17, 2012
  • Updated Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 12:35PM
  • ID: 10952
The largest sources of sea level rise are losing weight, fast.

The largest sources of sea level rise are losing weight, fast.

Ice losses in Antarctica are concentrated on its western coast, while Greenland's thawing has spread from the south to the northwest since 2005.

The ice sheet covering Antarctica is more than a mile thick in most places, but ice losses and gains vary widely across the continent.

The ice sheet covering Antarctica is more than a mile thick in most places, but ice losses and gains vary widely across the continent.

Major ice losses on Greenland's coasts have been driven by rapid acceleration of

Major ice losses on Greenland's coasts have been driven by rapid acceleration of "outlet" glaciers that empty ice into the ocean.

Increasing ice losses in West Antarctica, shown here, cause concern because a major portion of the ice sheet rests on bedrock below sea level.

Increasing ice losses in West Antarctica, shown here, cause concern because a major portion of the ice sheet rests on bedrock below sea level.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

  • Animator
  • Writer
  • Scientists
    • John Wahr (Department of Physics and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder) [Lead]
    • Sean Swenson (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder) [Lead]
    • Thomas Jacob (Department of Physics and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder) [Lead]
    • W. Tad Pfeffer (Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research/Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder) [Lead]
  • Producers
  • Project support

Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions:

Datasets used in this visualization

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
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