Greenland and Antarctica have lost roughly 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since the 1970s, according to a new assessment. The loss increases global sea level by more than 1.1 inches (around 3 cm), with one report giving a sea-level rise estimate of 31.4 mm.
The sources also describe how the ice is being lost. One outlet reports that faster-flowing glaciers account for about 84% of the total ice loss, while surface melting contributes about 16%. Another summary, presented by an Earth-science publication, frames the same overall calculation as “more than 11 trillion metric tons” since the late 1970s and links it to a multi-centimetre rise in sea level.
Overall, the outlets align on the scale of the ice loss and the order of magnitude of resulting sea-level rise. Differences are mainly in the exact time window and specific breakdown of loss processes, rather than in the central findings.
