Michael Zemp
Livia Jakob
Ines Dussaillant
Samuel U. Nussbaumer
Noel Gourmelen
Sophie Dubber
A. Geruo
Sahra Abdullahi
Liss M. Andreassen
Etienne Berthier
Atanu Bhattacharya
Alejandro Blazquez
Laura Boehm Vock
Tobias Bolch
Jason Box
Matthias H. Braun
Fanny Brun
Eric Cicero
William Colgan
Nicolas Eckert
D. Farinotti
Caitlyn Florentine
Dana Floricioiu
Alex Gardner
Christopher Harig
Javed Hassan
Romain Hugonnet
Matthias Huss
Tómas Jóhannesson
Chia-Chun Angela Liang
Chang-Qing Ke
Shfaqat Abbas
Owen King
Marin Kneib
Lukas Krieger
Fabien Maussion
Enrico Mattea
Robert McNabb
Brian Menounos
Evan Miles
Geir Moholdt
Johan Nilsson
F. Palsson
Julia Pfeffer
Livia Piermattei
Stephen Plummer
Andreas Richter
Ingo Sasgen
Lilian Schuster
Thorsten Seehaus
Xiaoyi Shen
Christian Sommer
Tyler Sutterley
Desiree Treichler
Isabella Velicogna
Bert Wouters
Harry Zekollari
Whyjay Zheng
GlaMBIE Team
2025
<p><span>Glaciers are indicators of ongoing anthropogenic climate change</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2015" title="Bojinski, S. et al. The concept of essential climate variables in support of climate research, applications, and policy. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 95, 1431–1443 (2014)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR1" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 1" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR1">1</a></sup><span>. Their melting leads to increased local geohazards</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2019" title="Haeberli, W. & Whiteman, C. in Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks, and Disasters (eds Shroder, J. F. et al.) 1–34 (Elsevier, 2015);
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394849-6.00001-9
." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR2" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 2" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR2">2</a></sup><span>, and impacts marine</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2023" title="Hopwood, M. J. et al. How does glacier discharge affect marine biogeochemistry and primary production in the Arctic? Cryosphere 14, 1347–1383 (2020)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR3" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 3" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR3">3</a></sup><span> and terrestrial</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2027" title="Ficetola, G. F. et al. The development of terrestrial ecosystems emerging after glacier retreat. Nature 632, 336–342 (2024)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR4" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 4" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR4">4</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2030" title="Bosson, J. B. et al. Future emergence of new ecosystems caused by glacial retreat. Nature 620, 562–569 (2023)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR5" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 5" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR5">5</a></sup><span> ecosystems, regional freshwater resources</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2034" title="Huss, M. & Hock, R. Global-scale hydrological response to future glacier mass loss. Nat. Clim. Change 8, 135–140 (2018)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR6" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 6" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR6">6</a></sup><span>, and both global water and energy cycles</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2039" title="Von Schuckmann, K. et al. Heat stored in the Earth system 1960–2020: where does the energy go? Earth Syst. Sci. Data 15, 1675–1709 (2023)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR7" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 7" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR7">7</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2042" title="Dorigo, W. et al. Closing the water cycle from observations across scales: where do we stand? Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 102, E1897–E1935 (2021)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR8" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 8" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR8">8</a></sup><span>. Together with the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, glaciers are essential drivers of present</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2046" title="Slater, T. et al. Earth’s ice imbalance. Cryosphere 15, 233–246 (2021)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR9" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 9" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR9">9</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2049" title="Bamber, J. L., Westaway, R. M., Marzeion, B. & Wouters, B. The land ice contribution to sea level during the satellite era. Environ. Res. Lett. 13, 063008 (2018)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR10" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 10" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR10">10</a></sup><span> and future</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2053" title="Rounce, D. R. et al. Global glacier change in the 21st century: every increase in temperature matters. Science 379, 78–83 (2023)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR11" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR11">11</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2053_1" title="Marzeion, B. et al. Partitioning the uncertainty of ensemble projections of global glacier mass change. Earths Future 8, e2019EF001470 (2020)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12">12</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2056" title="Hock, R. et al. GlacierMIP—a model intercomparison of global-scale glacier mass-balance models and projections. J. Glaciol. 65, 453–467 (2019)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR13" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 13" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR13">13</a></sup><span> sea-level rise. Previous assessments of global glacier mass changes have been hampered by spatial and temporal limitations and the heterogeneity of existing data series</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2060" title="Vaughan, D. G. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 317–382 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR14" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR14">14</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2060_1" title="IPCC The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR15" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR15">15</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2063" title="IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 16" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16">16</a></sup><span>. Here we show in an intercomparison exercise that glaciers worldwide lost 273 ± 16 gigatonnes in mass annually from 2000 to 2023, with an increase of 36 ± 10% from the first (2000–2011) to the second (2012–2023) half of the period. Since 2000, glaciers have lost between 2% and 39% of their ice regionally and about 5% globally. Glacier mass loss is about 18% larger than the loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and more than twice that from the Antarctic Ice Sheet</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2067" title="Otosaka, I. N. et al. Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 1992 to 2020. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 15, 1597–1616 (2023)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR17" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 17" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR17">17</a></sup><span>. Our results arise from a scientific community effort to collect, homogenize, combine and analyse glacier mass changes from in situ and remote-sensing observations. Although our estimates are in agreement with findings from previous assessments</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2071" title="Vaughan, D. G. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 317–382 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR14" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR14">14</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2071_1" title="IPCC The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR15" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR15">15</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2074" title="IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 16" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16">16</a></sup><span> at a global scale, we found some large regional deviations owing to systematic differences among observation methods. Our results provide a refined baseline for better understanding observational differences and for calibrating model ensembles</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2079" title="Marzeion, B. et al. Partitioning the uncertainty of ensemble projections of global glacier mass change. Earths Future 8, e2019EF001470 (2020)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 12" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12">12</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2082" title="IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 16" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR16">16</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2085" title="Zekollari, H. et al. Twenty-first century global glacier evolution under CMIP6 scenarios and the role of glacier-specific observations. Cryosphere 18, 5045–5066 (2024)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR18" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 18" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR18">18</a></sup><span>, which will help to narrow projection uncertainty for the twenty-first century</span><sup><a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2089" title="Rounce, D. R. et al. Global glacier change in the 21st century: every increase in temperature matters. Science 379, 78–83 (2023)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR11" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 11" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR11">11</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2092" title="Marzeion, B. et al. Partitioning the uncertainty of ensemble projections of global glacier mass change. Earths Future 8, e2019EF001470 (2020)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 12" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR12">12</a>,<a id="ref-link-section-d17083767e2095" title="Zekollari, H. et al. Twenty-first century global glacier evolution under CMIP6 scenarios and the role of glacier-specific observations. Cryosphere 18, 5045–5066 (2024)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR18" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 18" data-mce-href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08545-z#ref-CR18">18</a></sup><span>.</span></p>
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Nature
Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023
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