Global Glaciers Account for One-Fourth of Total Sea Level Rise Since 2010

Geophysical Research Letters, 26 April 2023

Mountain glaciers worldwide have lost 2% of their ice in the past twelve years, with 90% of this loss driven by rising air temperatures. In this study, researchers used satellite radar data for the first time to create a global picture of long-term glacier changes, with detailed insights into different regions across the world. Atmospheric warming strongly dominates global trends in glacier loss, with rapidly warming polar oceans contributing to loss by glaciers along the edges of Greenland and Antarctica. In particular, warm water intruding under the base of glaciers in the Barents and Kara seas, compounded by sea ice retreat and the incursion of warmer Atlantic currents high into Arctic waters has contributed to half the ice lost there since 2010. These findings underscore the important role of both atmosphere and ocean in the global cryosphere, and highlight the urgency of emission reductions to slow these losses and their irreversible regional and global impacts.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL102954