On average the glaciers have lost a snow, névé or ice layer corresponding to a 67 cm water column. A long-term series of measurements carried out on 30 glaciers in nine mountain regions also confirmed a melt rate more than twice as high. While ice melted by an average 30 cm of water equivalent per year between 1980 and 1999, the figure has risen to 70 cm since 2000.
Sizeable regional differences between the mountain regions have also been observed: in Scandinavia the ice thickness of glaciers in maritime locations such as the Nigardsbreen/NO (+ 1 m) has increased. By contrast Alpine glaciers have lost up to 2.5 m of water equivalent in ice. In 2007 a loss of ice was also recorded for all the glaciers observed in South America.
Information: www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/ (en)