Edited by Professor David J. Drewry, former Director of the British Antarctic Survey and Vice-Chair and Director for Natural Sciences at the UKNC, the report unites new findings from universities across the UK. This includes contributions from leading British scientists who work in partnership with international teams in glacier regions from the Andes and Himalayas to the Arctic and Antarctic.
Drawing on decades of satellite observations, field expeditions, and climate modelling, the report paints a vivid picture of a rapidly changing planet. Glaciers are reshaping landscapes, threatening water supplies, and intensifying hazards from floods to sea-level rise. Yet it also demonstrates how UK scientists are pioneering new methods to monitor, model, and adapt to these changes, providing decision-makers with the evidence needed to safeguard the communities and ecosystems that depend on ice.
Key Findings
- Since 2000, glaciers have lost 6,542 billion tonnes of ice, more than 5 per cent of their total mass.
- Ice loss has accelerated by 36 per cent between 2012 and 2023, compared with the period from 2000 to 2011.
- Glaciers now account for around one-third of global sea-level rise, surpassing the contributions from both Greenland and Antarctica.
- Regions such as the Caucasus and Central Europe have lost up to 40 per cent of their glacier mass
- Fifteen million people live under direct threat from glacial-lake outburst floods, while between one and two billion people depend on glacier-fed rivers for water, food and energy.
