Huge expanses of ice are melting alarmingly fast, raising new concerns about "catastrophic consequences for humanity," a study published May 20 says.
The study focuses on two masses of ice currently sitting on land: The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. As temperatures rise, that ice is melting, flowing into the ocean and making sea levels rise.
While change in sea level rise is often measured in centimeters or inches, the ice melt potential of these sheets could raise sea levels dozens of feet.
It's happening even faster than expected, authors warn in the study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.
“Recent satellite-based observations of ice sheet mass loss have been a huge wake-up call for the whole scientific and policy community working on sea-level rise and its impacts," said study co-author Jonathan Bamber, of the University of Bristol in the UK.