Just 3% of the world's glaciers account for over half of glacier ice loss

Summary

A new study finds that glaciers ending in lakes, oceans or ice shelves make up 3.2% of the world's glaciers, yet they lost 134 billion metric tons (148 billion tons) of ice each year between 2000 and 2019, accounting for more than half of all glacier ice loss.

Timeline

1. Phys.org

   23 Oct 2026, 09:00 UTCSource ↗

   Phys.org reports that glaciers ending in lakes, oceans or ice shelves are 3.2% of the world's glaciers but lost 134 billion metric tons (148 billion tons) of ice a year from 2000 to 2019, more than half of all glacier ice loss, according to a new study.