Ice Sheets

ANTARCTICA MASS VARIATION SINCE 2002

Data source: Ice mass measurement by NASA's GRACE satellites. Gap represents time between missions.
Credit: NASA
Rate of Change
141
billion metric tons per year since 2002

Data from NASA's GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellites show that the land ice sheets in both Antarctica (left chart) and Greenland (right chart) have been losing mass since 2002.

The GRACE mission ended in June 2017. The GRACE Follow-On mission began collecting data in June 2018 and is continuing to monitor both ice sheets. This record includes new data-processing methods and is continually updated as more numbers come in, with a delay of up to two months.

GREENLAND MASS VARIATION SINCE 2002

Data source: Ice mass measurement by NASA's GRACE satellites. Gap represents time between missions.
Credit: NASA
Rate of Change
269
billion metric tons per year since 2002

Note: You now need to create an Earthdata account to access NASA's ice sheet data. Register here for free. Once logged in, click "HTTP" under the charts on this page to access the data.