Earth's ice is melting: where and how fast?
Summary
Nearly all of Earth's land ice is in polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers, which are melting rapidly due to global warming, raising sea levels significantly.
Key Points
- Nearly 99% of Earth's land ice is in polar ice sheets, mainly Antarctica and Greenland.
- If all Antarctic ice melted, sea levels would rise by about 58 metres, and Greenland's ice could add 7 metres.
- Mountain glaciers lost about 9.18 trillion tonnes of ice between 1976 and 2024, especially in Alaska, Patagonia, and the Arctic.
- Ice loss rates have accelerated, with Greenland losing 4.9 trillion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2020, and the melt season extending longer.
