A couple of months ago in a post I explained how, according to our analysis, the gains in East Antarctica are not enough to offset losses in West Antarctica and hence Antarctica is an overall contributor to sea-level rise. The article giving the details contradicted to a large extent those given by Zwally et al. two years earlier, who obtained large positive mass balances for East Antarctica.
This week an article in Scientific American titled ‘What to Believe in Antarctica’s Great Ice Debate’ delves into the causes of the discrepancies between our study and that of Zwally et al. It makes a very interesting read, and for the statistically inclined it is a reminder of the importance of considering uncertainties at every stage in the analysis chain!
Image Credit: Mario Tama Getty Images
Andrew Zammit Mangion 