A major assessment of satellite and survey data estimates that Greenland and Antarctica have lost about 12.5 trillion tons of ice since 1979, adding roughly an inch to global sea levels.
The study combined observations from 27 satellites and 45 surveys to reconstruct nearly five decades of change. Researchers found that the pace of ice loss accelerated sharply after relatively stable conditions through much of the 1990s.
Most of the loss was linked not simply to warmer air but to warmer ocean water attacking ice sheets from below and along their edges. That process can speed the movement of glaciers into the sea and make future changes harder to reverse.
Even small increments of sea-level rise can substantially increase the number of people exposed to coastal flooding. Scientists say the long record is valuable because it separates short-lived weather variations from the underlying trend in polar ice loss.
Source: Associated Press reporting on research published in Scientific Data, Sept. 16, 2026.
