Tracking the Big Thaw

While the measurements of Earth's ice mass loss have been most dramatic in Greenland, GRACE data are showing that Earth's other, even larger, polar ice sheet in Antarctica is not immune to the effects of Earth's changing climate either. GRACE has quantified a large loss of ice in West Antarctica, as well as unexpected ice loss in parts of East Antarctica, previously believed to be stable. In this image, blue shades represent ice mass loss, while yellow represents ice mass gain.

Image credit: University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research