FRESH evidence of melting came from both poles this week.
Until recently, conflicting results have meant estimates of ice loss at the poles vary widely. Now an international team has used satellite data and climate modelling to show that, in the decade ending in 2006, annual ice loss from West Antarctica increased by 59 per cent while losses from the Antarctic Peninsula leapt by 140 per cent (Nature Geoscience, ). These results tie in nicely with recent results obtained by other methods, bringing consensus over ice loss a bit closer.
Also this week, a separate team used glacier and meteorological data in Greenland to show that local warming since 1990 has resulted in the most severe melting in 50 years ().
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