Global Glacier Changes

Facts and Figures

UNEP - WGMS

UNEP and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) released the report "Global Glacier Changes: Facts and Figures". The report presents the latest fluctuations of glaciers and ice caps and underlines the overall trend of glaciers’ retreat. WGMS compiles, analyses, and publishes standardised information on the distribution and ongoing changes in the world’s glaciers and ice caps.

The database on glacier fluctuations includes 36.240 length change observations from 1803 glaciers as far back as the late 19th century, as well as about 3 400 annual mass balance measurements from 226 glaciers covering the past six decades.

The publication is about the world´s surface ice on land outside the two polar ice-sheets. It provides a well illustrated review on the basis of available data, the global distribution of glaicers and ice caps, and their changes since maximum extents of the so-called Little Ice Age. The interesting publication also provides the background knowledge needed to understand the compiled glacier observations in view of the ongoing climate change. It presents the latest state of knowledge on glacier changes in view of the available data sets and the scientific literature.