Antarctica’s massive lakes, rivers, and streams could help us understand rising sea levels

Antarctica isn’t a huge, static block of ice where very little goes on. For the first time, scientists are getting a sense of just how active the continent’s extensive network of lakes, rivers, and streams is. These bodies of water have existed for decades on Antarctica, and their meltwater affects the stability of the ice shelf underneath. That, in turn, has important implications for sea level rise.Antarctica’s landmass is surrounded by hundreds of floating ice shelves that p