Antarctica, Greenland ice losses are accelerating

Earth's great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, are now losing mass six times faster than they were in the 1990s thanks to warming conditions.

A comprehensive review of satellite data acquired at both poles is unequivocal in its assessment of accelerating trends, say scientists.

Between them, Greenland and Antarctica lost 6.4 trillion tonnes of ice in the period from 1992 to 2017.

Prof Andrew Shepherd co-leads a project called the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise, or Imbie, which produced the figures.