Melting glaciers have caused almost 2cm of sea level rise this century alone, a decades-long study has revealed. From a report: The research shows the world’s glaciers collectively lost 6.542tn tonnes of ice between 2000 and 2023, causing an 18mm (0.7in) rise in global sea levels. The world’s glaciers lost an average of 273bn tonnes of ice every year — the equivalent of 30 years of water consumption by the entire global population.

The assessment, led by scientists from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Zurich, found that so far this century, glaciers have lost approximately 5% of their total volume. Regional losses were highly variable; the Antarctic and subantarctic islands lost 2% of their volume but central Europe’s glaciers lost 39%.

“These numbers are staggering. They serve as a reminder that things are changing fast in some regions,” said Prof Noel Gourmelen, the co-lead author of the study and personal chair of Earth observation at the University of Edinburgh’s school of geosciences. A stark contrast in the amount of ice lost each decade was also discovered, with 36% more ice having melted between 2012 and 2023 compared with the previous decade.

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