How is land ice changing in the Arctic, and what is the influence on sea level?

Figures & data

Figure 1. The recent contribution rate of glaciers and ice caps and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise (red), and ice area and volume in each (white and gray). Bottom: Observed sea level rise estimates from recent loss of land ice, including an estimate for all regions from a gravity-mapping satellite (GRACE). Estimates for glaciers include values for existing glaciers (dashed line) and glaciers plus recently-vanished glacier volumes (solid line); for the Greenland central ice sheet (dashed line) and the ice sheet plus peripheral glaciers (solid line). [graphics adapted from refs. 3 and 4. Also, see Knowledge Pyramid in Supplemental Material for additional references].

Figure 2. Dramatic retreat between 1941 and 2004 of the Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska. This pattern of glacier retreat has now been observed across the world [NSIDC Photo Archive].