Ice shelves differ from ice sheets. Study misrepresented online | Fact check

Penguins are seen on an iceberg as scientists investigate the impact of climate change on Antarctica's penguin colonies, on the northern side of the Antarctic peninsula, Antarctica January 15, 2022. Picture taken January 15, 2022. REUTERS/Natalie Thomas

The claim: Study shows Antarctic ice isn't melting, growing overall instead

A June 9 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a graphic depicting Antarctic ice shelf change that was originally published in a 2023 research paper.

"Is ice melting in Antarctica alarming?" reads the post. "Nope, in fact the very opposite is happening!!! Satellite measurements make it clear, the Antarctic ice plates have become even larger. The ice has risen by 5305 km2, or 661 gig tonnes of ice (sic)."

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The post names the European Geosciences Union − the entity that published the 2023 research paper − as its source.

The post was shared more than 800 times in less than three weeks.

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Our rating: False

The post misrepresents the research in the 2023 paper, according to the paper's lead author. The graphic in the post only shows changes to the 34 ice shelves studied in the paper. Research shows the Antarctic ice sheet is losing mass overall.

Paper reports results from 34 ice shelves, not entire Antarctic ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet has lost about 2.6 trillion tons of ice since 2002, NASA reports.

The 2023 research paper referenced in the Facebook post does not contradict this finding, according to the paper's lead author, Julia Andreasen, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

The paper "does not find that Antarctica is gaining ice overall," she told USA TODAY in an email.

While the paper reports growth of 5,305 km² and 661 billion metric tons of ice, this finding does not apply to the entire Antarctic ice mass. Instead, it refers only to overall changes in 34 specific Antarctic ice shelves between 2009 and 2019.

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Antarctica has more than a hundred ice shelves that develop when the ice sheet, the giant expanse of ice that sits on top of the Antarctic continent, flows out over ocean water and forms a floating structure.

"It is important to note that there are many different types of ice in Antarctica," Andreasen said, also noting that the term "ice plates" used in the Facebook post is not a term used in glaciology.

"Although our paper discusses the mass change associated with ice shelf area change, we do not make any statements about total ice mass change in Antarctica," she said.

Likewise, the graphic in the Facebook post only shows changes to specific ice shelves, not total ice change on the continent.

For information on total ice mass change, Andreasen referred USA TODAY to a 2018 paper published in Nature. The paper reports overall losses from the ice sheet.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• National Geographic, accessed June 26, Ice sheets

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ice shelves differ from ice sheets. Study misrepresented online | Fact check