A new NASA-led study tells a complicated story
Snowfall over Antarctica increased on average between the years 1901 and 2000
Mitigating sea level rise by 0.4 inches
Red = less snow
Blue = more snow
However, that doesn’t mean that the Antarctic ice sheet has stopped shrinking
Or that sea level rise is slowing down
Sea level is directly affected by changes in snowfall
The amount of snow controls how much water is locked up in ice sheets
Even with the extra snowfall, the Antarctic ice sheet is still melting due to a warming climate
Findings reveal that without these gains, the planet could have experienced
Even more sea level rise during the 20th century
But extra ice gained from more snow only makes up for a third of the current ice loss
Scientists expect snowfall will continue to increase into the
21st century and beyond - but so will ice loss