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Earth lost 12 trillion tons of ice in 47 years
The gist
Satellites show Greenland and Antarctica lost 11.3 trillion tons of ice since 1979.
That melt added 1.24 inches to sea levels, raising coastal flood risk.
How it unfolded
- 1972NASA satellites allowed scientists to chart ice sheet volumes in Greenland back to this year.
- 1979Start of the study period; about 12.5 trillion tons (11.3 trillion metric tons) of ice from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have melted since this year.
- 1970s-1990sThe ice sheets were relatively stable, then melt started happening.