The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska is pictured here in February 2021. The glacier is one of many worldwide which are retreating. (Becky Bohrer/AP/via The Canadian Press)
Glacier mass is decreasing worldwide with an average total loss of 267 billion tonnes of mass per year, says a new study.
The period looked at was between 2000 and 2019. The loss of glacier mass during this period also accounted for 21 per cent of the observed sea-level rise, the authors said.
The study, “Accelerated global glacier mass loss in the early twenty-first century” was published in the journal
Nature on Wednesday.
Glacier mass loss has been accelerating by about 50 billion tonnes annually each decade since 2000, the study found.