Polar ice sheets lost 12.5 trillion tons of ice since 1979

A scientific report published in the journal Scientific Data reveals that approximately 12.5 trillion tons of ice from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have melted since 1979. This volume of ice is equivalent to a layer 1.5 meters deep covering the entire continental United States.

Research indicates that five-sixths of this melting is driven by warming ocean waters eroding the ice sheets from below and the sides, rather than warmer air temperatures. This process has contributed to a global sea level rise of approximately 3.1 centimeters (one inch) since 1979.

Lead author Ines Otosaka, an ice specialist at Northumbria University, noted that for every third of an inch of sea level rise, an additional 2 to 3 million people face annual flooding. Co-author Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, warned that the rapid melting increases the vulnerability of coastal regions worldwide.