We’ve Lost 11 Trillion Metric Tons of Ice Since the 1980s
Researchers said 84% of the loss came from glaciers flowing into the ocean, a process that has accelerated since the 1990s.
- A major scientific report published in Scientific Data reveals that Greenland and Antarctica have lost about 12.5 trillion tons of ice since 1979, making polar ice sheets key drivers of current global sea level rise.
- Lead study author Ines Otosaka, an ice scientist at Northumbria University in England, explained that 84% of combined ice loss stems from glaciers discharging into the ocean, while only 16% results from surface melting driven by atmospheric temperatures.
- Utilizing 45 independent surveys and 27 satellites, the international team found this melt created nearly 3 quadrillion gallons of water, pushing global sea levels up about 1 inch since 1979.
- Study co-author Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, warned that dynamic ice changes are prone to trigger runaway 'tipping points,' as outflow from West Antarctica, specifically via Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, has accelerated every decade.
- Although the melt rate saw a temporary pause between 2020 and 2023, Otosaka noted the accelerating trend has since resumed, emphasizing these changes track decades behind global warming, meaning sea level rise will likely continue for decades.
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20 Articles
We’ve Lost 11 Trillion Metric Tons of Ice Since the 1980s
Caption/Credit: New research finds that the majority of the ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica since the 1980s has come from glaciers and ice sheets discharging into the ocean, rather than melting at the surface. Here, melt ponds are seen dotting the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet in July 2025. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
An important scientific report indicates that, since 1979, about 11.3 billion metric tons of glacier ice have melted in Greenland and Antarctica, a sufficient amount of frozen water to stack ice in a thick...
The ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica have lost 11 trillion tons of ice over the past 50 years. This has caused global sea levels to rise by more than 3 centimeters. Moreover, a large-scale international satellite study shows that the main cause is not the melting of ice at the surface, but glaciers flowing into the ocean at an increasingly rapid rate.
The Toronto Star
Satellites show Earth lost more than 12 trillion tons of ice from Greenland, Antarctica in 47 years
About 12.5 trillion tons (11.3 trillion metric tons) of ice from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have melted since 1979, which is enough frozen water to stack ice five feet deep across the continental United States, according to a major…
Svenska Dagbladet
corren.seGreenland and Antarctica have lost 11.3 trillion tons of ice since the 1970s. It has raised global sea levels by more than three centimetres, according to a new study.
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