Thwaits Glacier, Antarctica

The longest satellite data record of ice-sheet change ever assembled has revealed that Greenland and Antarctica have lost a staggering 11 trillion tonnes of ice since the 1970s, driving global sea level up by more than three centimetres. However, the new findings also highlight that the story is not simply one of ice melting at the surface. The glaciers that drain these vast ice sheets are also flowing faster, channelling enormous quantities of ice directly into the ocean.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures Thwaits Glacier in Antarctica in February 2026 – albeit from later than the research period, and hence for illustrative purposes.

Read full story: Faster-flowing glaciers fuel decades of polar ice loss