Human-caused climate change is transforming the world at a lightning pace. New research reveals exactly what that means for Alaska’s glaciers and icefields. These critical bodies of frozen water are shrinking much faster than current models predict, and the rate of ice loss is accelerating rapidly, according to a study published July 2 in the journal Nature Communications. The science suggests icefields in Alaska and similar regions could soon reach a tipping point past which no amount of climate mitigation or greenhouse gas emissions could stop their decline, with unsettling implications for sea level rise.
