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Accelerating High Mountain Asia Glacier Loss From ICESat and ICESat-2

J. Hassan,William Colgan,K. Nielsen,Rijan Bhakta Kayastha,Mira Khadka,Shfaqat Abbas Khan

Published 2026 in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing

ABSTRACT

Communities dependent on snow and ice melt need to face escalating challenges due to glacier depletion, particularly in High Mountain Asia (HMA). Understanding glacier changes is thus crucial for addressing these impacts. Employing Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and ICESat-2, we estimate glacier mass balance from 2003 to 2023 using three independent geodetic methods to reduce methodological biases. We find an acceleration in ice loss from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$27.48~\pm ~7.96$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Gt a−1 (2003–2009) to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$36.58~\pm ~8.08$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Gt a−1 (2018–2023). Mass loss is now evident at all elevations in several HMA regions, with few exceptions above 6000 m a.s.l. Climate data indicate that increased warming and reduced precipitation have intensified mass loss in recent years. These findings highlight a transition toward a widespread negative mass balance in the region. Increased glacier melt elevates the risk of seasonal water security and glacial hazards across HMA.

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