Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ice sheet
An Ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 square kilometers (19,305 square miles). The only current ice sheets are Antarctic and Greenland; during the last ice age at Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the Laurentide ice sheet covered much of Canada and North America, the Weichselian ice sheet covered northern Europe and the Patagonian Ice Sheet covered southern South America. The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest single mass of ice on Earth. The Greenland ice sheet occupies about 82% of the surface of Greenland, and if melted would cause sea levels to rise by 7.2 metres. Estimated changes in the mass of Greenland's ice sheet suggest it is melting at a rate of about 239 cubic kilometres (57.3 cubic miles) per year.
Ice sheets are bigger than ice shelves or glaciers. Masses of ice covering less than 50,000 square kilometers are termed an ice cap. An ice cap will typically feed a series of glaciers around its periphery.
Related Stories
1
2
Earth & Climate News
June 16, 2026
June 16, 2026 Researchers discovered that hydrogen radicals generated by intense UV light can break down stubborn PFAS “forever chemicals” without added chemicals. The breakthrough reveals a key mechanism that could lead to greener and more effective ...
June 15, 2026 NASA satellites have detected a vast pulse of warm water reaching the coast of South America, signaling that El Niño is likely developing. The warm water is being carried eastward by massive ocean waves known as Kelvin waves, which also cause sea ...
June 15, 2026 Beneath our feet lies a vast hidden fungal superhighway that helps sustain much of life on Earth—and scientists have now mapped it for the first time. Researchers estimate that these underground networks stretch an astonishing 110 quadrillion ...
June 14, 2026 A new catalyst design could significantly improve the conversion of CO2 into methanol, an important fuel and chemical feedstock. Researchers separated key reaction steps across different catalyst sites, avoiding a long-standing trade-off between ...
June 14, 2026 One of the most celebrated claims about Yellowstone’s wolves is facing a major challenge. Scientists say the study behind the famous trophic cascade story relied on flawed methods that overstated the ecological impact of wolf recovery. Their ...
June 12, 2026 Alaska’s glaciers are proving to be highly sensitive to warming temperatures. Using radar satellites to monitor more than 3,000 glaciers, researchers found that every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in average summer temperature extends glacier melting by ...
June 11, 2026 For nearly 700 years, Indigenous hunters repeatedly used a bison kill site in central Montana—then suddenly stopped, even though bison were still abundant. Researchers uncovered evidence that ...
June 11, 2026 Scientists have developed biodegradable protein beads made from dairy and tofu waste that can capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently than many current technologies. Unlike conventional systems that require large amounts of ...
June 10, 2026 Researchers propose that tiny mineral nanoparticles may have been the hidden engines that transformed Earth’s early chemistry into the first building blocks of life. By acting as natural catalysts and energy processors, these “nanozymes” could ...
June 9, 2026 A surprising study suggests that chemicals introduced to protect the ozone layer may have unintentionally created a growing global pollution problem. Researchers found that refrigerants and certain anesthetic gases have generated more than 335,000 ...
June 8, 2026 South Australia’s koala population has grown so large that it may be heading toward a self-made disaster, with forests struggling to support the animals. Researchers say targeted fertility control could prevent widespread starvation and habitat ...
June 6, 2026 Scientists warn that free-living amoebae may be an underappreciated public health threat, capable of causing deadly infections and shielding other dangerous microbes from water treatment. Climate change and aging infrastructure could help these ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
June 5, 2026 Researchers have shown that controlled fire whirls can clean up oil spills faster and more cleanly than traditional burning methods. The spinning flames consumed up to 95% of the oil, cut soot ...
June 5, 2026 Mangroves are famous for trapping vast amounts of carbon, helping slow climate change. However, a new study suggests rising sea levels could eventually reduce that benefit across entire forests. As ...
June 4, 2026 A giant fan-shaped network of hidden basins has been discovered beneath East Antarctica, revealing that several well-known subglacial features are actually part of one massive geological structure. ...
June 3, 2026 Researchers discovered a way to reverse the direction of energy flow in turbulence, challenging a theory that has stood for more than 80 years. The finding could open new possibilities for ...
June 3, 2026 Typhoon Jangmi powered toward southern Japan with heavy rain, strong winds, and a striking appearance from space. Nighttime satellite images revealed a large eye and intricate swirling structures ...
June 3, 2026 One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded this early in the Pacific season did more than unleash flooding and extreme winds—it sent enormous ...
June 3, 2026 Scientists have confirmed that a mysterious Utah earthquake first detected in 1979 really did occur nearly 90 kilometers underground—far deeper than anyone thought earthquakes could happen beneath ...
June 2, 2026 A massive global analysis found that nitrogen pollution can either speed up or dramatically slow the natural "breathing" of forest soils, depending on the ecosystem's condition. The results reveal ...
June 2, 2026 Scientists are venturing into the Grand Canyon’s hidden cave networks to solve a mystery: how snowmelt travels underground to supply the park’s vital springs. Their discoveries could help protect ...
June 2, 2026 A breakthrough hydrogen-production method could make clean fuel far cheaper and easier to generate. Researchers at the University of Birmingham developed a perovskite-based catalyst that splits water ...