Antarctica has gained glacier ice despite rising global temperatures. How is that possible?

For the first time in decades, scientists have detected a dramatic increase in Antarctic ice mass, challenging prevailing trends and stirring intrigue in the scientific community.

Image Credit: AI-generated image (for representational purposes only)

Amidst adverse climate change - from scorching heatwaves in India to relentless storms battering the US — a rare and unexpected development has emerged from the southernmost tip of the planet. For the first time in decades, scientists have detected a dramatic increase in Antarctic ice mass, in contrast with previous trends.

A groundbreaking study published in Science China Earth Sciences reveals that the Antarctic Ice Sheet has witnessed a substantial rebound in ice mass between 2021 and 2023. The discovery, led by Dr. Wang and Professor Shen of Tongji University, leverages data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its successor, GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO), offering a detailed glimpse into the continent's shifting cryosphere.

According to the researchers, the Antarctic Ice Sheet had been losing ice at an alarming rate in recent decades. Between 2002 and 2010, Antarctica lost approximately 74 billion tons of ice each year — a figure that nearly doubled from 2011 to 2020, ballooning to an average annual loss of 142 billion tons. The culprits were well known: accelerated melting in West Antarctica and vulnerable pockets of East Antarctica.

But then, the tide turned. “From 2021 to 2023, we observed a remarkable shift,” the study notes. “The ice sheet gained mass at an estimated rate of 108 billion tons annually, primarily driven by anomalously high snowfall.”

This rebound, while extraordinary, underscores the complexity of polar climate dynamics. The researchers emphasize that this gain, though significant, may be a short-lived reprieve in the face of long-term warming trends.

Crucially, this resurgence in Antarctic ice is not mirrored at the other end of the globe. In stark contrast, the Arctic continues to shatter records — for the wrong reasons.

NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) recently reported that the Arctic’s winter sea ice has plummeted to an all-time low. “On March 22, 2025, the maximum extent of Arctic sea ice was recorded at 14.33 million square kilometers,” NASA stated, “surpassing the previous record low of 14.41 million square kilometers observed in 2017.”

As the polar regions move in opposite directions, scientists urge caution in interpreting short-term gains as a reversal of climate change.