Global Glaciers Have Decreased by Over 5% Since 2000

According to the most comprehensive assessment, glaciers around the world have been shrinking by more than 5% on average since 2000. This rapid melting rate has accelerated by more than a third over the past decade as climate change continues in stages.

It is said to be “a problem of warming level for glaciers.” Noel Goomeren At the University of Edinburgh, UK. “They are climate change barometers.”

The new numbers come from a global consortium of hundreds of researchers known as the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise. This group sought to reduce uncertainty about how much of the planet's 200,000 or so glacier melted by assessing different size measures using standard procedures. This includes gravity and elevation measurements from 20 satellites, as well as ground measurements.

Between 2000 and 2011, glaciers melted at an average rate of approximately 231 billion tons of ice per year, researchers found. This melting rate increased to 314 billion tonnes per year between 2012 and 2023, an acceleration of more than a third. In 2023, a mass of approximately 548 billion tons was recorded.

These numbers are consistent with previous estimates. But this comprehensive look “gives a little more confidence in the changes seen in the glacier,” says Gourmelen, part of the consortium. “And there's a clear acceleration.”

Overall, thawing of roughly 7 trillion tons of glacial ice since 2000 has increased sea level by almost 2 centimeters, melting into the second largest contributor of sea level rise, resulting in the expansion of water from warming oceans. Ta.

“This is a consistent story of glacial changes.” Tyler Sutterley At Washington University in Seattle. “Areas that have had glaciers since ancient times have lost these ice symbols.”

Alps glaciers have lost more ice than any other region, shrinking nearly 40% since 2000. In the Middle East, New Zealand and the West, glaciers have seen more than 20% reductions. Depending on future emissions, the world's glaciers are predicted to lose quarter to half of the ice by the end of the century.