Summary
They make up just a little over three percent of all glaciers but cause more than half of the ice loss.
From 2000 to 2019 they lost about 134 billion tonnes of ice each year.
Scientists think the water in lakes helps melt the ice faster.
Key Points
4 points1
Lake‑ending glaciers flow about 10% faster, ocean‑ending about 44% faster than land‑ending.
2
Lake‑ending glaciers lose roughly 57% more ice relative to their size.
3
More glaciers are turning into lake‑ending ones as the climate gets warmer.
4
Understanding this helps predict future sea‑level rise and water supplies.
New Words to Learn
6 wordsglacier
a massive, slow river of frozen snow and ice
termini
the ends or edges of a glacier
calving
when a chunk of ice breaks off a glacier into water
mass loss
the amount of ice that disappears
climate
the usual weather patterns over a long time
projection
an educated guess about the future
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