---
title: The Antarctic Ice Shelves Are Melting At Alarming Rates
description: Some Antarctic ice shelves are up to 18% thinner from almost two decades ago, according to a new study shedding light on climate change.
canonical: https://time.com/3761064/antarctic-ice-shelves-thinning-climate-change/
author: Sabrina Toppa
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2015-03-27T08:37:19.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:41.490Z
article:section: Science
og:title: The Antarctic Ice Shelves Are Melting Rapidly
og:description: Some as much as 18% over the last two decades.
og:url: https://time.com/3761064/antarctic-ice-shelves-thinning-climate-change/
og:site_name: TIME
og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88454a0bdd8e2720/69878587e20a874b19a85cbd/antarctic-ice-glaciers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
og:image:width: 1200
og:image:height: 675
og:image:alt: AUSTRALIA-ANTARCTICA-ENVIROMENT
og:type: article
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:title: The Antarctic Ice Shelves Are Melting Rapidly
twitter:description: Some as much as 18% over the last two decades.
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88454a0bdd8e2720/69878587e20a874b19a85cbd/antarctic-ice-glaciers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
---
# The Antarctic's Floating Ice Shelves Are Melting At an Alarming Rate
## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change
[Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)
_Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_
by
[Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/)
## Sabrina Toppa
Mar 27, 2015 8:37 AM UTC
The Totten Glacier, pictured here, is the most rapidly thinning glacier in East Antarctica.
The Totten Glacier, pictured here, is the most rapidly thinning glacier in East Antarctica.Australian Antarctic Division—AFP/Getty Images
by
[Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/)
## Sabrina Toppa
Mar 27, 2015 8:37 AM UTC
Some of Antarctica’s floating ice shelves are up to 18% thinner than they were two decades ago, [according](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150326151432.htm) to a new study shedding light on climate change.
Science Daily reports that researchers at the UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography examined satellite data from the past two decades and discovered that ice shelves are thinning at precipitous rates, which are accelerating over time.
In 1994 to 2003, Antarctica’s total ice shelf volume – the ice shelf area multiplied by thickness – underwent minimal change. Then thinning began, with the last few years pointing to the highest rate of change.
“Eighteen percent over the course of eighteen years is really a substantial change,” researcher Fernando Paolo told _Science Daily_. “Overall, we show not only the total ice shelf volume is decreasing, but we see an acceleration in the last decade.”
The ice shelf shrinkage is indirectly linked to rising sea levels, and current volume reduction rates have scientists projecting that half the volume of ice shelves in western Antarctica may be lost in 200 years.
\[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150326151432.htm)\]
### Melting Away: One Photographer's Journey to Preserve the Polar Regions
Evigheds Fjord, Eternity GlacierWestern Greenland, September 2009 Camille Seaman
Iceberg Detail with Kittiwake Gulls Eastern Greenland, August 2006 Camille Seaman
Trapped IcebergEastern Greenland, August 2006 Camille Seaman
Grand Pinnacle Iceberg DetailEastern Greenland, August 2006 Camille Seaman
Breaching IcebergGreenland, August 2008 Camille Seaman
The Kings of South GeorgiaSouth Georgia, March 2010 Camille Seaman
Tabular Iceberg ReflectedCape Adare, Antarctica, December 2006 Camille Seaman
On the EdgeSvalbard, June 2010 Camille Seaman
Sea Ice Remnant Svalbard, July 2008 Camille Seaman
Antarctic Storm Antarctic Peninsula, December 2008 Camille Seaman
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