2026-06-02 · percent of 1970 glacier mass
Glaciers outside Greenland and Antarctica are shrinking fast
Mountain glaciers feed rivers for billions. They lost roughly a quarter of their mass since 1970.
Mountain glaciers feed rivers that billions of people rely on — and they are shrinking fast. Outside Greenland and Antarctica, reference glaciers tracked by the World Glacier Monitoring Service have lost roughly 28% of their mass since 1970. The remaining 72% is the frozen reserve those rivers still depend on, and it keeps shrinking.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of 1970 glacier mass (0.1% of reference glacier mass) · 1,000 cells
Context
The ~28% figure comes from the World Glacier Monitoring Service's reference glaciers, the long-term series used to track cumulative mass change since 1970. WGMS and its predecessor organizations have compiled standardized glacier data for more than a century, drawing on a scientific network active in more than 30 countries.
Glaciers outside the two great ice sheets span mountain ranges worldwide and feed river systems that billions of people depend on. WGMS also tracks how these glaciers contribute to sea level and fit into the global water cycle.
WGMS's latest announcements cover global glacier mass change in 2025 and name a Glacier of the Year for 2026, keeping the monitoring record current through this edition's 2026 data year.
WGMS reference glaciers ~28% mass loss since 1970.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-06-02-glacier-mass-loss