Ice on the Land
This chapter covers ice masses on land: ice sheets; glaciers and ice caps; and the impact on global sea level of the
melting of land ice.
The two continental ice sheets, Antarctica over our planet, from the poles to the tropics. Section
6A
and Greenland, make up more than half 6B presents a global overview of these glaciers, looking
of the total amount of fresh water and at their evolution over time, recent changes, the conse-
around 99 per cent of the freshwater ice on Earth. The quences of these changes, and the outlook for the future
sheer size of these gigantic ice masses results in challeng- of the world’s glaciers. The final part of 6B is a world
es for systematic research and observation. The growth glacier tour, highlighting selected regions, mountain
and vanishing of ice sheets relates to global processes and ranges and issues.
time scales spanning ice ages. As a consequence, the ice
sheets contain snowfall from hundreds of thousands of Continental ice sheets as well as glaciers
years ago, a unique record of atmospheric and climatic
evolution through several ice ages (see inside back cover). 6C
and ice caps exert a strong influence on
sea level, as ice that melts from land di-
Section 6A deals with the characteristics of the two con- rectly contributes to the rising sea level. Past changes in
tinental-scale ice sheets, observations on recent changes, global sea level, the current situation of accelerating sea
and the outlook for the future of Earth’s ice storehouses. level rise, and the outlook for sea level are covered in 6C.
The impacts of sea-level rise are, of course, global in na-
There are glaciers and ice caps in addi- ture. In this section we present information on the types
6B
tion to those associated with the Antarc- and magnitude of these impacts on vulnerable regions,
tic and Greenland ice sheets, spread all ecosystems and sectors of society.
98 GLOBAL OUTLOOK FOR ICE AND SNOW