As the world continues to warm, Antarctica is losing ice at an increasing pace, but the loss of sea ice may lead to more snowfall over the ice sheets, partially offsetting contributions to sea level rise, according to Penn State scientists who reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The researchers analyzed the impacts of decreased sea ice in the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica and found the ice-free ocean surface leads to more moisture in the atmosphere and heavier snowfalls on the ice sheet.
While the additional snowfall is not enough to offset the impacts of melting ice, including it in climate models may improve predictions of things like sea level rise, said Luke Trusel, assistant professor of geography at Penn State and co-author of the study.
The Antarctic ice sheet plays a significant role in global sea level dynamics. As one of the world’s largest reservoirs of freshwater, any change in its volume directly impacts sea levels. Trusel noted that while popular attention is often on visible processes like chunks of ice breaking away, or calving, and floating away as icebergs, more subtle interactions — like snowfall on the ice sheet — can be equally significant.