Scientists are mapping the land beneath this frozen underworld, which is crucial to predicting future sea level rise and the potential mayhem to come.

ByAnamaria SilicJanuary 26, 2021 3:00 PM

(Credit: Artsiom Petrushenka/Shutterstock)

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The frozen kingdom of Antarctica may appear featureless from above, but beneath all that ice lies a mysterious and complex world that researchers say could be pivotal to understanding the effects of climate change.

It’s well established that the Antarctic ice sheet has been rapidly losing mass. As ocean temperatures have risen, the glaciers that make up the ice sheet are melting at a rate six times faster than that of 40 years ago. NASA reports that Antarctica is now losing 252 gigatons of ice per year — about three and a half Olympic swimming pools per second.