39% of Glacial Ice in Central Europe Lost in 23 Years With Thaw Rate Accelerating Fast

39% of Central Europe's glacial ice has disappeared in just 23 years between 2000 and 2023. The melting rate has also accelerating significantly since 2012, according to a new study.

Conducted by 35 research teams and leveraging data from multiple satellite observations, including the European Space Agency’s CryoSat mission, the study uncovers alarming findings about glacier decline. Globally, melting glaciers are depleting freshwater supplies and accelerating sea-level rise.

The study reveals that glaciers worldwide have been shedding an average of 273 billion tonnes of ice annually since 2000.

Alarmingly, the pace of loss has increased sharply over the last decade. Back in 2000, glaciers—excluding Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets—covered 705,221 square kilometres and stored approximately 121,728 billion tonnes of ice.

However, they’ve since lost around 5% of their total volume, with regional declines ranging from 2% on the Antarctic and Subantarctic Islands to a dramatic 39% in Central Europe.

This trend signifies an annual ice loss of 273 billion tonnes, with a 36% surge in losses during the second half of the study period (2012–2023) compared to the first half (2000–2011).

Over the entire study period, glacier ice mass loss surpassed that of the Greenland Ice Sheet by 18% and was more than double that of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.