New research has revealed that glaciers in one of Earth’s fastest-warming regions have lost more than 800 square kilometers of ice area since 1985, with the most dramatic losses occurring in recent years.
The study, published in Nature Communications, provides the most detailed look yet at glacier changes across Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic. Using artificial intelligence to analyze millions of satellite images, scientists found that 91% of the region’s glaciers have significantly shrunk over the past four decades.
“The scale of glacier retreats over the past few decades is astonishing, almost covering the entire Svalbard,” said lead author Dr. Tian Li, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol’s Glaciology Centre. “This highlights the vulnerability of glaciers to climate change, especially in Svalbard, a region experiencing rapid warming up to seven times faster than the global average.”
The study found that more than half of the glaciers exhibit seasonal patterns in ice loss, with large chunks breaking away due to warming ocean and air temperatures. Most notably, 2016 saw glacier loss rates double compared to the previous five-year average, coinciding with extreme warming events.
Using advanced AI techniques, researchers tracked the positions of glacier fronts across Svalbard’s entire archipelago. Their analysis revealed that 62% of glaciers undergo seasonal cycles in calving – the process where ice chunks break away from the glacier’s edge.
“With the increasing frequency of atmospheric blocking and ongoing regional warming, future retreats of glaciers are expected to accelerate, resulting in greater glacier mass loss,” Li noted, adding that these changes would affect ocean circulation and marine ecosystems in the Arctic.
Professor Jonathan Bamber, study co-author and glaciologist at the University of Bristol, emphasized the significance of understanding glacier calving: “Glacier calving is a poorly modelled and understood process that plays a crucial role in the health of a glacier. Our study provides valuable insights into what controls calving and how it responds to climate forcing in an area at the frontline of global warming.”
The research shows that Svalbard’s glaciers are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their low elevation and location in the North Atlantic. The team’s findings suggest that without significant climate action, these crucial Arctic ice masses will continue to diminish at an accelerating pace.