Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The research, published in the journal Scientific Data, drew on data from 27 satellite missions, the longest such record ever compiled. It found the melting has added around 3.14cm to global sea levels.
Lead author Inès Otosaka, a climate scientist at Northumbria University, said the scale of loss was difficult to grasp.
”To put this very large number into context, 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice is enough ice to fill in a cube that would be 23 kilometres in height,” she said.
About 60 per cent of the loss came from Greenland, despite the ice sheet being roughly an eighth the size of Antarctica's. The study found ice loss was relatively stable through the 1970s and 1980s before accelerating in the 1990s, with the pace quadrupling between the 1980s and 2010s.
Researchers said 84 per cent of the loss stemmed from glaciers discharging ice into the ocean more rapidly, rather than surface melting, pointing to warming oceans as the primary driver.
In Greenland, the Jakobshavn glacier is now retreating by up to 50 metres a day, Otosaka said.
A slowdown was recorded between 2020 and 2023, as heavy snowfall in East Antarctica and cooler Greenland summers temporarily offset losses elsewhere.
However, scientists cautioned this reflected a short-term weather variation rather than a reversal of the underlying trend.
They warned that ice sheets can take decades to respond to climate change, meaning further loss may be locked in even if warming is curbed.
Otosaka said the findings carried serious implications for coastal communities.
“Ice sheets are now a major driver of sea-level rise, accounting for about 25 per cent of all sea-level rise,” she said, noting that every additional centimetre puts two to three million more people at risk of annual coastal flooding.
The researchers said the total rise attributable to the ice sheets already puts a further six to nine million people at risk of coastal flooding and erosion worldwide.
Russia says no plague cases have been detected among contacts of a laboratory worker who died in Siberia, with most tests negative for infectious d...
Space-agency chiefs and industry leaders met to discuss lunar exploration, satellite networks and orbital security on Tuesday as a major global spa...
Police fired tear gas at protesters blockading French high schools on Tuesday as students, teachers and parents to...
Australian counterterrorism authorities are examining the links of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to take control of a flydubai flight bound for Israel. Authorities in New Zealand have also said they are investigating reports the suspect had spent time in that country.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
Russia says no plague cases have been detected among contacts of a laboratory worker who died in Siberia, with most tests negative for infectious diseases and many quarantined people already released.
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), appointed as acting oil minister, according to Iranian state media.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has unveiled an action agenda designed to turn climate commitments into concrete projects and measurable results, focusing on clean energy, waste reduction, resilient cities and industrial decarbonisation.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
Increasingly intense wildfires and heat waves are threatening global efforts to improve air quality and protect public health, the United Nations’ weather agency has warned.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment