Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 09:51
An international study using 3D satellite mapping shows an “enormous” increase in melt rates and loss of mass of glaciers in the past few years according to the lead author. It is the first study of the world’s glaciers distinct from ice sheets and their glaciers such as in Greenland and Antarctica, and found that the world’s glaciers are losing mass at an accelerated rate.
Comparing annual data from the period 2000 to 2004 against the period 2015-2019 they determined that glaciers were losing 78 billion more tons of mass per year now than during the earlier period.
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.