Recent research reveals that the Earth’s ice sheets have lost a staggering amount of ice in the past three decades. According to a team of international scientists, the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, which contain most of the world’s freshwater ice, are melting at an alarming rate.
By analyzing 50 satellite surveys conducted between 1992 and 2020, researchers from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE) have been able to observe changes in the ice sheets’ volume and ice flow.
The study found that ice sheet melting has surged six times over the last 30 years, mainly due to the unprecedented levels of planet-warming pollution that has raised global temperatures.
The report indicates that the polar ice sheets have lost over 8.3 trillion tons of ice since 1992, equivalent to creating an ice cube with a height of 12 miles. Shockingly, the seven worst years for polar ice sheet melting have all occurred in the past decade, highlighting the urgent need for effective climate action.