Mass balance of the ice sheets and glaciers – Progress since AR5 and challenges

• Published in: Earth-Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Hanna, Edward, Pattyn, Frank, Navarro, Francisco, Favier, Vincent, Goelzer, Heiko, van den Broeke, Michiel, Vizcaino, Miren, Whitehouse, Pippa, Ritz, Catherine, Bulthuis, Kevin, Smith, Ben
• Other Authors: Department of Geography Sheffield, University of Sheffield Sheffield, Laboratoire de Glaciologie Bruxelles, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Utrecht University Utrecht, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Université de Liège
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; Greenland; Antarc*; glacier; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03036869; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102976

International audience Recent research shows increasing decadal ice mass losses from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets and more generally from glaciers worldwide in the light of continued global warming. Here, in an update of our previous ISMASS paper (Hanna et al., 2013), we review recent observational estimates of ice sheet and glacier mass balance, and their related uncertainties, first briefly considering relevant monitoring methods. Focusing on the response to climate change during 1992–2018, and especially the post-IPCC AR5 period, we discuss recent changes in the relative contributions of ice sheets and glaciers to sea-level change. We assess recent advances in understanding of the relative importance of surface mass balance and ice dynamics in overall ice-sheet mass change. We also consider recent improvements in ice-sheet modelling, highlighting data-model linkages and the use of updated observational datasets in ice-sheet models. Finally, by identifying key deficiencies in the observations and models that hamper current understanding and limit reliability of future ice-sheet projections, we make recommendations to the research community for reducing these knowledge gaps. Our synthesis aims to provide a critical and timely review of the current state of the science in advance of the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report that is due in 2021.