Sustained rapid shrinkage of Yukon glaciers since the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year

Glaciers in the Yukon, NW Canada, lost 22% of their surface area during the 50 years following the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year, coincident with increases in average winter and summer air temperatures and decreases in winter precipitation. Scaling these results to ice volume change, we obtain a total mass loss of 406 +/- 177 Gt, which accounts for 1.12 +/- 0.49 mm of global sea level rise. Yukon glaciers thinned by 0.78 +/- 0.34 m yr(-1) water equivalent, a regional thinning rate exceeded only by mountain glaciers in Patagonia and Alaska. Our scaling analysis suggests the remaining glaciers have the capacity to contribute a further 5.02 mm to global sea-level rise. Citation: Barrand, N. E., and M. J. Sharp (2010), Sustained rapid shrinkage of Yukon glaciers since the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L07501, doi: 10.1029/2009GL042030.