Antarctic Ice Sheet Expands, Arctic Sea Ice Remains Constant

Antarctica

Between 2021 and 2023, Antarctic ice gained mass at a rate of approximately 108 metric tons per year, driven by anomalous precipitation accumulation. ⁽¹⁾

Mass changes across the Antarctic ice sheet have been detected using satellite gravimetry, revealing significant instabilities in major basins of East Antarctica as well as across the entire ice sheet. ⁽²⁾

Previous studies have consistently shown a long-term trend of mass loss, particularly in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, while glaciers in East Antarctica appeared relatively stable. However, the recent study has found a surprising shift: between 2021 and 2023, the AIS experienced a record-breaking increase in overall mass. Notably, four major glaciers in the Wilkes Land-Queen Mary Land region of East Antarctica reversed their previous pattern of accelerated mass loss from 2011 to 2020 and instead showed significant mass gain during the 2021 to 2023 period. ⁽³⁾

Another paper calculated that around 2,546 gt of ice has been added every year since 1960 to the surface on Antarctica. ⁽⁴⁾ This would certainly have been enough to stabilize any natural losses and it is possible that the ice sheet has been stable or even growing slowly over this period. ⁽⁵⁾

Wouldn’t all this good news be worth reporting on the news? Not so far. ⁽⁶⁾

Arctic

Another piece of good news that is not being reported is that Arctic sea ice has not decreased for over 10 years. Researchers report that the decline in Arctic sea ice is expected to pause for decades. They expect it to continue for at least the next 5-10 years. ⁽⁷⁾

As recently as 2009, John Kerry, US climate envoy, sounded the alarm that the Arctic would be ice-free in 2013. The reality turned out differently.

Climate model forecasts are increasingly deviating from reality. There are too many contradictions with reality.

References

1. Vijay Jayaraj, “Brazil’s crops and Antarctic ice expose climate corruption,” iowaclimate.org, May 9, 2025
2. Austin Williams, “Antarctic rebound: why the ice sheet’s mass is shocking experts,” climatedepot.com, May 5, 2025
3. Wei Wang et al., “Spatiotemporal mass change rate analysis from 2002 to 2023 over the Antarctic Ice Sheet and four glacier basins in Wilkes-Queen Mary Land,”, Science China Earth Sciences, March 2025
4. Christiaan T. van Dalum et al., “The surface mass balance and near-surface climate of the Antarctic ice sheet in RACMO2.4p1,” egusphere.copernicus.org, 2024-3728
5. Chris Morrison, "Daily mail reports climate denier mass celebration on polar ice growth,” principia-scientific.com, May 20, 2025
6. P. Gosselin, “Antarctic sea ice is increasing, climate models no longer reflect reality,” notrickszone.com, May 13, 2025
7. Roger Pielke Jr. “Surprise—climate is more complex than we know,” nypost.com, May 6, 2025