Ice sheets may be shrinking faster and faster

Science: The two great ice sheets—Greenland's and Antarctica's—are closely monitored for ice loss.

Surveys of ice-sheet volume made from planes and satellites have quantified these losses, but those assessments have been spotty in time, space, or both.

Now the latest analysis of the most comprehensive, essentially continuous monitoring of the ice sheets shows that the losses have not eased in the past few years. More ominously, losses from both Greenland and Antarctica appear to have accelerated during the past 7 years.