More than 12 trillion tonnes of ice lost in climate change's big melt

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🗞️ Driving the news: Greenland and Antarctica have lost 12.5 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, raising global sea levels by around 3.2 centimetres, according to a study published in Scientific Data
• The research combines satellite observations spanning more than four decades, extending the record to 1979 for Antarctica and 1972 for Greenland

🔭 The context: The ice sheets remained relatively stable through the 1970s and 1980s into the 1990s before losses increased, with the sharpest acceleration during the 2010s
• Around 84% of the loss comes from increased ice discharge into the oceans, with surface processes accounting for the remaining 16%
• In Greenland, the Jakobshavn glacier is retreating by up to 50 metres a day

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: For every centimetre of sea level rise, an estimated two to three million more people face annual coastal flooding
• The 3.2 centimetres already added translates into millions newly exposed
• Warmer seawater erodes ice from below and around glacier edges, accelerating their flow seaward, which means ocean warming drives the process regardless of what happens on the surface

⏭️ What's next: Ice loss slowed between 2020 and 2023, but researchers attribute this to short-term weather patterns rather than a change in trend
• Ice-sheet responses to warming can take decades, so losses could continue even if global temperatures were brought under control

💬 One quote: "There is a clear trend that the ice sheets are losing more mass and it has been increasing from decade to decade" — Inès Otosaka, ice scientist, Northumbria University

📈 One stat: 12.5 trillion tonnes of ice lost since 1979, contributing around 3.2 centimetres to global sea level rise

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