Ice Loss in Alaska and Iceland Much Greater Than Previously Measured

Nature Earth and Environment, 15 June 2026

Glacier ice loss in Alaska and Iceland has been underestimated in recent decades because current satellite methods failed to fully account for how the Earth’s crust rises up as glaciers melt. When glacier melt occurs, the weight pressing down on the land decreases, causing the Earth’s crust to slowly rebound upward. This uplift causes glacier elevation to remain relatively stable, giving the appearance that the ice volume remains constant when it is really shrinking. By incorporating this rebound effect into satellite measurements, the study estimates that between 2002-20025, glaciers in Alaska lost an additional 7 gigatonnes more ice per year, and glaciers in Iceland an additional 3 gigatonnes per year, than previously thought. This increased the estimated glacier mass loss by about 9% in Alaska and 32% in Iceland, and raises global glacier mass loss estimates by around 4%. Improving these measurements is important because the glaciers in Alaska and Iceland are quite large, together accounting for about one-quarter of global glacier mass loss today, making them major contributors to current sea-level rise. The study suggests that similar corrections may be needed in other large glacier regions, including Patagonia, Southeast Greenland, the Antarctic Peninsula, and parts of West Antarctica, where the Earth’s crust responds quickly to ice loss.

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