Per a study published by the journal Nature in 2026, “Antarctica holds the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth, and therefore changes in its ice mass balance strongly influence global and regional sea levels.” The study found that the mass of the Antarctic Ice Sheet declined at a steady rate from 2002 to 2019, leveled off from 2020 to 2021, and grew from 2023 to 2024. In total, Figure 1a of the study shows that the Antarctic Ice Sheet lost about 1,400 gigatons of mass from April 2002 to April 2024. Per NASA, “every 360 gigatons of added melt water raises global sea level by one millimeter.” Given that 1 millimeter equals 0.039 inches, combining these figures equates to an average global sea level rise of 0.152 inches: (1,400 / 360) × 0.039 = 0.152