A new study suggests Antarctic sea levels are rising faster than the global rate.
Satellite data from the last 19 years revealed fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea levels around Antarctica to rise by two centimeters more than the global average of six centimeters, the University of Southampton reported.
The melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and the thinning of ice shelves has caused an excess in sea level rise of about 350 gigatons of freshwaters to the surrounding ocean.
"Freshwater is less dense than salt water and so in regions where an excess of freshwater has accumulated we expect a [localized] rise in sea level," said Craig Rye, lead author of the paper that has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The researchers also employed computer models to determine the effect of the melting glaciers on the Antarctic ocean. Their results closely resembled what has been observed in the real world.
"The computer model supports our theory that the sea-level rise we see in our satellite data is almost entirely caused by freshening (a reduction in the salinity of the water) from the melting of the ice sheet and its fringing ice shelves," Craig said.
"The interaction between air, sea and ice in these seas is central to the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and global sea levels, as well as other environmental processes, such as the generation of Antarctic bottom water, which cools and ventilates much of the global ocean abyss," he concluded.
The research was carried out in close collaboration with researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the British Antarctic Survey.
The paper "Rapid Sea-Level Rise Along the Antarctic Margins in Response to Increased Glacial Discharge" was published in a recent edition of the paper Nature Geoscience.
