{"id":629140,"date":"2026-09-19T02:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629140\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T02:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:26:32","slug":"satellite-data-shows-accelerating-ice-loss-in-greenland-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629140\/","title":{"rendered":"Satellite data shows accelerating ice loss in Greenland, Antarctica"},"content":{"rendered":"

New research based on satellite data going back to the 1970s has documented major \u2060polar ice losses<\/a> in Greenland and Antarctica <\/a>\u2013 home \u2060to Earth’s two great ice sheets \u2013 that have contributed to rising global sea levels.<\/p>\n

Between 1979 and 2023, according to data from 27 satellite missions, Greenland <\/a>and Antarctica lost \u200ba combined 11.3 trillion tons of ice, adding 1.24 inches (3.14 cm) \u200bto the \u2060worldwide sea-level rise.<\/p>\n

The study, employing the longest satellite data record of changes in ice sheets ever gathered to give the most complete account to date of ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica, was conducted by the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise team, an international group of polar scientists.<\/p>\n

The findings, they said, offer fresh evidence of the effects of human-caused global climate change.<\/p>\n

“To put this very large number into context, 11.3 trillion tons of ice is enough ice to fill in a cube that would be 23 kilometers (14.3 miles) in height,” said climate scientist In\u00e8s Otosaka of Northumbria University in England, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Scientific Data.<\/p>\n

Of the ice loss \u2060documented \u2060in the study, about 60% came from Greenland and 40% from Antarctica, even though Greenland is about one-eighth the size of Antarctica.<\/p>\n

“When ice sheets melt, they contribute to rising global sea levels. And with every additional centimeter of sea-level rise, about 2 to 3 million people are put at risk of annual coastal flooding. The ice sheets are now a major driver of sea-level rise, accounting for about 25% of all sea-level rise,” Otosaka said.<\/p>\n

“We have extended our satellite data record backwards in time to the 1970s, and this confirms that ice losses started in the 1990s \u2060and have increased since then. Our assessment shows that the pace of ice loss increased by a factor of four between the 1980s and 2010s,” Otosaka said.<\/p>\n

The study documented a slowdown in ice loss between 2020 and 2023, though \u200bthe researchers said this appears to represent a short-term variation and not a reversal of the long-term \u200btrend. Unusually high snowfall across East Antarctica provided enough ice to offset some of the losses from glaciers elsewhere on Antarctica, while relatively mild summers in Greenland substantially lowered surface melting, they \u2060said.<\/p>\n

Some 84% \u200cof the \u200cice lost came from glaciers flowing more quickly into the ocean rather \u2060than from ice melting at the surface, showing that the \u200clong-term trend is being driven by the response of the ice sheets to a warming ocean, Otosaka said.<\/p>\n

The researchers said \u200bthe total sea-level rise attributed to the \u2060ice losses at Greenland and Antarctica may not sound like a huge \u2060number, but it puts another 6 to 9 million people at risk of coastal flooding and \u2060erosion globally.<\/p>\n

“These findings have \u200bimplications for coastal planning, showing that we urgently need to develop plans for protecting coastal communities around the world from the impact of ice sheet melting,” Otosaka said.<\/p>\n

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