While continued increases in dynamic thinning are expected in response to thinning of adjacent ice shelves in WA1 and the AP (Cook and others, 2005; Pritchard and Vaughan, 2007; Rott and others, 2011; Shuman and others, 2011; Pritchard and others, 2012), the long-term dynamic thickening in EA and WA2 should provide a significant buffer against such continued increases in mass loss. If dynamic thinning continues to increase at the same rate of 4Gta^–2 with no offset from further increases in snowfall, the positive balance of the AIS will decrease from the recent 82Gta^–1 to zero in ~20 years. However, compensating increases in snowfall with climate warming may also be expected (Gregory and Huybrechts, 2006; Winkelmann and others, 2012).