India, May 5 -- In a surprising turn of events, Antarctica reportedly saw a net gain of 107.79 gigatons of ice per year between 2021 and 2023. This was a rare occurrence, as data from NASA's GRACE and GRACE-FO missions have been telling a grim tale for almost two decades.

The data, which have been significant in tracking the Antarctic Ice Sheet's mass changes over the years, showed that from 2002 to 2010, Antarctica lost ice at a rate of 73.79 gigatons per year. The figure then rose to 142.06 gigatons annually between 2011 and 2020, most of the loss coming from West Antarctica and the Wilkes Land-Queen Mary Land (WL-QML) region in East Antarctica, as reported by Business Today.

The gain between 2021 and 2023 was especially pronounced in...