Ice loss up Melting faster: polar and glacial ice worldwide. Credit: Lucezn/Getty Images Study after study has shown that Earth is losing its glacial and polar ice. Previous research has focussed on specific areas, from mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet to warming in the South Pole. Now, research led by the University of Leeds, UK, has found that global ice loss is increasing at a record rate. Key research points Global ice loss increased from 0.8 trillion tonnes per year in the 1990s to 1.3 trillion tonnes in 2017 68% of ice loss was driven by atmospheric warming. The remaining 32% is due to warming oceans