Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016
Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets cover an area of approximately 706,000 square kilometres globally¹, with an estimated total volume of 170,000 cubic kilometres, or 0.4 metres of potential sea-level-rise equivalent². Retreating and thinning glaciers are icons of climate c...
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:177460 2024-06-23T07:46:36+00:00 Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 Zemp, Michael Huss, Matthias Thibert, E Eckert, N McNabb, R Huber, J Barandun, M Machguth, Horst Nussbaumer, Samuel U Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle Thomson, L Paul, Frank Maussion, F Kutuzov, S Cogley, J G 2019-04-01 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/1/2019_Zemp_s41586-019-1071-0.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-177460 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 eng eng Springer https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/1/2019_Zemp_s41586-019-1071-0.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-177460 doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 urn:issn:0028-0836 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Zemp, Michael; Huss, Matthias; Thibert, E; Eckert, N; McNabb, R; Huber, J; Barandun, M; Machguth, Horst; Nussbaumer, Samuel U; Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle; Thomson, L; Paul, Frank; Maussion, F; Kutuzov, S; Cogley, J G (2019). Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016. Nature, 568(7752):382-386. Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Multidisciplinary Journal Article PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2019 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-17746010.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 2024-06-05T00:24:10Z Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets cover an area of approximately 706,000 square kilometres globally¹, with an estimated total volume of 170,000 cubic kilometres, or 0.4 metres of potential sea-level-rise equivalent². Retreating and thinning glaciers are icons of climate change³ and affect regional runoff4 as well as global sea level5,6. In past reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimates of changes in glacier mass were based on the multiplication of averaged or interpolated results from available observations of a few hundred glaciers by defined regional glacier areas7,8,9,10. For data-scarce regions, these results had to be complemented with estimates based on satellite altimetry and gravimetry11. These past approaches were challenged by the small number and heterogeneous spatiotemporal distribution of in situ measurement series and their often unknown ability to represent their respective mountain ranges, as well as by the spatial limitations of satellite altimetry (for which only point data are available) and gravimetry (with its coarse resolution). Here we use an extrapolation of glaciological and geodetic observations to show that glaciers contributed 27 ± 22 millimetres to global mean sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016. Regional specific-mass-change rates for 2006–2016 range from −0.1 metres to −1.2 metres of water equivalent per year, resulting in a global sea-level contribution of 335 ± 144 gigatonnes, or 0.92 ± 0.39 millimetres, per year. Although statistical uncertainty ranges overlap, our conclusions suggest that glacier mass loss may be larger than previously reported11. The present glacier mass loss is equivalent to the sea-level contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet¹², clearly exceeds the loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet¹³, and accounts for 25 to 30 per cent of the total observed sea-level rise14. Present mass-loss rates indicate that glaciers could almost disappear in some mountain ranges in this century, while heavily glacierized regions will ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive Antarctic Greenland The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Multidisciplinary |
spellingShingle |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Multidisciplinary Zemp, Michael Huss, Matthias Thibert, E Eckert, N McNabb, R Huber, J Barandun, M Machguth, Horst Nussbaumer, Samuel U Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle Thomson, L Paul, Frank Maussion, F Kutuzov, S Cogley, J G Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
topic_facet |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Multidisciplinary |
description |
Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets cover an area of approximately 706,000 square kilometres globally¹, with an estimated total volume of 170,000 cubic kilometres, or 0.4 metres of potential sea-level-rise equivalent². Retreating and thinning glaciers are icons of climate change³ and affect regional runoff4 as well as global sea level5,6. In past reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimates of changes in glacier mass were based on the multiplication of averaged or interpolated results from available observations of a few hundred glaciers by defined regional glacier areas7,8,9,10. For data-scarce regions, these results had to be complemented with estimates based on satellite altimetry and gravimetry11. These past approaches were challenged by the small number and heterogeneous spatiotemporal distribution of in situ measurement series and their often unknown ability to represent their respective mountain ranges, as well as by the spatial limitations of satellite altimetry (for which only point data are available) and gravimetry (with its coarse resolution). Here we use an extrapolation of glaciological and geodetic observations to show that glaciers contributed 27 ± 22 millimetres to global mean sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016. Regional specific-mass-change rates for 2006–2016 range from −0.1 metres to −1.2 metres of water equivalent per year, resulting in a global sea-level contribution of 335 ± 144 gigatonnes, or 0.92 ± 0.39 millimetres, per year. Although statistical uncertainty ranges overlap, our conclusions suggest that glacier mass loss may be larger than previously reported11. The present glacier mass loss is equivalent to the sea-level contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet¹², clearly exceeds the loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet¹³, and accounts for 25 to 30 per cent of the total observed sea-level rise14. Present mass-loss rates indicate that glaciers could almost disappear in some mountain ranges in this century, while heavily glacierized regions will ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zemp, Michael Huss, Matthias Thibert, E Eckert, N McNabb, R Huber, J Barandun, M Machguth, Horst Nussbaumer, Samuel U Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle Thomson, L Paul, Frank Maussion, F Kutuzov, S Cogley, J G |
author_facet |
Zemp, Michael Huss, Matthias Thibert, E Eckert, N McNabb, R Huber, J Barandun, M Machguth, Horst Nussbaumer, Samuel U Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle Thomson, L Paul, Frank Maussion, F Kutuzov, S Cogley, J G |
author_sort |
Zemp, Michael |
title |
Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
title_short |
Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
title_full |
Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
title_fullStr |
Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
title_sort |
global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016 |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/1/2019_Zemp_s41586-019-1071-0.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-177460 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Zemp, Michael; Huss, Matthias; Thibert, E; Eckert, N; McNabb, R; Huber, J; Barandun, M; Machguth, Horst; Nussbaumer, Samuel U; Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle; Thomson, L; Paul, Frank; Maussion, F; Kutuzov, S; Cogley, J G (2019). Global glacier mass changes and their contributions to sea-level rise from 1961 to 2016. Nature, 568(7752):382-386. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/177460/1/2019_Zemp_s41586-019-1071-0.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-177460 doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 urn:issn:0028-0836 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-17746010.1038/s41586-019-1071-0 |
_version_ |
1802647000331583488 |