Warming and Melting Mass loss from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica account for a large fraction of global sea-level rise. Part of this loss is because of the effects of warmer air temperatures, and another because of the rising ocean temperatures to which they are being exposed. Joughin et al. (p. 1172 ) review how ocean-ice interactions are impacting ice sheets and discuss the possible ways that exposure of floating ice shelves and grounded ice margins are subject to the influences of warming ocean currents. Estimates of the mass balance of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have differed greatly—in some cases, not even agreeing about whether there is a net loss or a net gain—making it more difficult to project accurately future sea-level change. Shepherd et al. (p. 1183 ) combined data sets produced by satellite altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry to construct a more robust ice-sheet mass balance for the period between 1992 and 2011. All major regions of the two ice sheets appear to be losing mass, except for East Antarctica. All told, mass loss from the polar ice sheets is contributing about 0.6 millimeters per year (roughly 20% of the total) to the current rate of global sea-level rise.

Using RADARSAT synthetic aperture radar data, we have mapped the flow velocity over much of the Greenland ice sheet for the winters of 2000/01 and 2005/06. These maps provide a detailed view of the ice-sheet flow, including that of the hundreds of glaciers draining the interior. The focused patterns of flow at the coast suggest a strong influence of bedrock topography. Differences between our two maps confirm numerous early observations of accelerated outlet glacier flow as well as revealing previously unrecognized changes. The overall pattern is one of speed-up accompanied by terminus retreat, but there are also several instances of surge behavior and a few cases of glacier slowdown. Comprehensive mappings such as these, at regular intervals, provide an important new observational capability for understanding ice-sheet variability.

[1] Several new data sets reveal that thinning and speedup of Jakobshavn Isbrae continue, following its recent rapid increase in speed as its floating ice tongue disintegrated. The present speedup rate of $5% a À1 over much of the fast-moving region appears to be a diffusive response to the initial much larger speedup near the front. There is strong seasonality in speed over much of the fast-flowing main trunk that shows a good inverse correlation with the seasonally varying length of a short (typically $6 km) floating ice tongue. This modulation of speed with ice front position supports the hypothesis that the major speedup was caused by loss of the larger floating ice tongue from 1998 to 2003. Analysis of image time series suggests that the transient winter ice tongue is formed when sea ice bonds glacier ice in the fjord to produce a nearly rigid mass that almost entirely suppresses calving. Major calving only resumes in late winter when much of this ice clears from the fjord. The collapse of the ice tongue in the late 1990s followed almost immediately after a sharp decline in winter sea-ice concentration in Disko Bay. This decline may have extended the length of the calving season for several consecutive years, leading to the ice tongue's collapse.

It has been widely hypothesized that a warmer climate in Greenland would increase the volume of lubricating surface meltwater reaching the ice-bedrock interface, accelerating ice flow and increasing mass loss. We have assembled a data set that provides a synoptic-scale view, spanning ice-sheet to outlet-glacier flow, with which to evaluate this hypothesis. On the ice sheet, these data reveal summer speedups (50 to 100%) consistent with, but somewhat larger than, earlier observations. The relative speedup of outlet glaciers, however, is far smaller (<15%). Furthermore, the dominant seasonal influence on Jakobshavn Isbrae's flow is the calving front's annual advance and retreat. With other effects producing outlet-glacier speedups an order of magnitude larger, seasonal melt's influence on ice flow is likely confined to those regions dominated by ice-sheet flow.

Quantifying changes in Earth’s ice sheets and identifying the climate drivers are central to improving sea level projections. We provide unified estimates of grounded and floating ice mass change from 2003 to 2019 using NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat-2 satellite laser altimetry. Our data reveal patterns likely linked to competing climate processes: Ice loss from coastal Greenland (increased surface melt), Antarctic ice shelves (increased ocean melting), and Greenland and Antarctic outlet glaciers (dynamic response to ocean melting) was partially compensated by mass gains over ice sheet interiors (increased snow accumulation). Losses outpaced gains, with grounded-ice loss from Greenland (200 billion tonnes per year) and Antarctica (118 billion tonnes per year) contributing 14 millimeters to sea level. Mass lost from West Antarctica’s ice shelves accounted for more than 30% of that region’s total.

Predicting Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss due to ice dynamics requires a complete understanding of spatiotemporal velocity fluctuations and related control mechanisms. We present a 5 year record of seasonal velocity measurements for 55 marine-terminating glaciers distributed around the ice sheet margin, along with ice-front position and runoff data sets for each glacier. Among glaciers with substantial speed variations, we find three distinct seasonal velocity patterns. One pattern indicates relatively high glacier sensitivity to ice-front position. The other two patterns are more prevalent and appear to be meltwater controlled. These patterns reveal differences in which some subglacial systems likely transition seasonally from inefficient, distributed hydrologic networks to efficient, channelized drainage, while others do not. The difference may be determined by meltwater availability, which in some regions may be influenced by perennial firn aquifers. Our results highlight the need to understand subglacial meltwater availability on an ice sheet-wide scale to predict future dynamic changes.Key PointsFirst multi-region seasonal velocity measurements show regional differencesSeasonal velocity fluctuations on most glaciers appear meltwater controlledSeasonal development of efficient subglacial drainage geographically divided

[1] Using new data, we build upon the nearly two-decade long record of observations from Jakobshavn Isbrae to investigate the processes driving its dynamic evolution. While winter flow speed has not increased substantially over the last three winters, there remains a strong seasonal variation in flow speed that coincides with a cycle of summer thinning and winter thickening. We relate changes in glacier speed to geometry through variations in basal traction and horizontal stresses, using ice-flow models constrained by satellite and airborne observations. These results suggest that the bed provides little flow resistance along the main trough within about 20 km of the terminus. While the loss of buttressing from the retreat of grounded and floating ice likely contributed to the initial speedup, other processes are of comparable significance at seasonal to decadal time scales. From analysis of the models, we hypothesize that thinning-induced change in basal effective pressure is the dominant process influencing near-terminus behavior, while diffusive processes drive the upstream response. The apparent need for the terminus to thin to near flotation before it can calve may limit the rate at which retreat occurs. Our analysis of the processes controlling the speed suggests little potential for further large acceleration. Thinning and elevated speeds may continue at rates similar to present, however, putting the glacier on course to retreat to the head of its deep trough in about a century, at which point it likely would stabilize with a thinner terminus.

'Ice-sheet mass balance and climate change. ', Nature., 498 (7452). pp. 51-59. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12238Publisher's copyright statement:Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Greenland is losing mass at an increasing pace, Antarctic loss is likely to be less than some 52 recently-published estimates. It remains unclear whether East Antarctica has been gaining 53 or losing mass over the last twenty years, and uncertainties in mass change for West 54Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula remain large. We highlight the last six years of 55 progress and examine the key problems that remain. (primarily snow accumulation) and mass losses (primarily melt-water runoff and solid ice 74 dynamical discharge across the grounding line). Surface mass balance (SMB) is the net 75 balance of mass gains and losses at the ice-sheet surface and does not include dynamical 76 mass loss. Efforts to determine ice-sheet mass balance using the three satellite geodetic 77 techniques of altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry (see Section 2.1) have recently 78 been sharpened by carefully defining common spatial and temporal domains for inter-79 comparison 2 . Here we review the latest mass balance estimates for the Antarctic (AIS) and 80Greenland (GrIS) ice sheets. New glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models, tested and 81 evaluated against Global Positioning System (GPS) data, have recently led to significant 82 downwards revision in GIA, and hence downwards revisions of gravimetric and altimetric 83 satellite estimates of Antarctic mass loss 2 (Box 1). 84Since IPCC AR4, ice-sheet models are no longer constrained to using overly 85 simplified physics, allowing them to more accurately simulate the important coupling 86 between ice sheets, ice streams and ice shelves. This major advance has been accompanied 87 by improved model representation of the complex interactions of the ice-sheet with its bed, 88 the atmosphere and the ocean. For completeness we also discuss briefly the contributions 89 to sea-level rise (SLR) from other sources, namely glaciers and ice caps, thermal expansion 90 of the oceans and terrestrial water storage changes. Similarly, GRACE and radar and laser altimetry studies require the effects of GIA-121 related vertical bedrock motion (Box 1) to be accurately removed. Such vertical motion 122 could be misinterpreted as ice-mass change by the GRACE satellites or ice-thickness change 123 by radar and laser altimeters, and a GIA correction m...