Regional Rates of Glacier Loss for 2003 to 2009

  • Released Thursday, May 16, 2013
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In the image below, global glacial mass loss and area are summarized by regions. The area of the red circles corresponds to the annual glacial mass loss from 2003 to 2009. Glacier mass change estimates are determined from a combination of satellite altimetry (ICESat), satellite gravimetry (GRACE) and in situ field observations as determined by Gardner et al. Light orange halos surrounding red circles show the 95% confidence interval in mass change estimates, but can only be seen in regions with large uncertainties.

The area of the green/blue circles depicts total glacier area for each region with the tidewater basin fractions [TW] shown separately in blue. The geographic locations of all glaciers, evident primarily in mountainous regions and high latitudes, are shown in yellow with their area increased to improve visibility.

In the image below, global glacial mass loss and area are summarized by regions as recently published in Science by Gardner et al. (2013).

In the image below, global glacial mass loss and area are summarized by regions as recently published in Science by Gardner et al. (2013).

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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  • Scientists

    • Alex S Gardner (Graduate School of Geography, Clark University)
    • Georg Kaser (Institut für Meteorologie und Geophysik, Universität Innsbruck)
    • Anthony A Arendt (Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska)
    • Geir Moholdt (Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
    • Graham Cogley (Department of Geography, Trent University)
    • Bert Wouters (University of Colorado Boulder)
    • John Wahr (Department of Physics and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder)
    • Etienne Berthier (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Toulouse)
    • Regine Hock (Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
    • W. Tad Pfeffer (Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research/Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder)
    • Tobias Bolch (Department of Geography, University of Zurich)
    • Martin J Sharp (Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta)
    • Jon Ove Hagen (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo)
    • Frank Paul (University of Zurich)
    • Michiel R. van den Broeke (Utrecht University)
    • Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg (Utrecht University)

  • Project support

This page was originally published on Thursday, May 16, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:52 PM EDT.

Missions

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Related papers

Gardner, A. S., et al. , A Consensus Estimate of Glacier Contributions to Sea Level Rise: 2003 to 2009, Science 17 May 2013:Vol. 340 no. 6134 pp. 852-857, DOI: 10.1126/science.1234532

Gardner, A. S., et al. , A Consensus Estimate of Glacier Contributions to Sea Level Rise: 2003 to 2009, Science 17 May 2013:Vol. 340 no. 6134 pp. 852-857, DOI: 10.1126/science.1234532

Datasets used

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