Glaciers Today

Monthly images and analysis of the volume change of the world’s land ice

Arctic Canada North

What's happening to Arctic Canada North's glaciers?

Arctic Canada North contains over 5200 glaciers accounting for about 15% of Earth’s total glacier area - making it one of the largest glacierised regions outside of the two ice sheets. These glaciers have been steadily losing mass since at least 2000, with a marked acceleration in the late 2000s. Glacier retreat in this region is driven predominantly by rising summer air temperatures and longer melt seasons. Altogether, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ranks among the largest regional glacier contributors to global sea-level rise outside the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

Additional Information About The Data And Display

The information on this page is based on analysis of CryoSat-2 swath altimetry data from the CryoTEMPO-EOLIS dataset. For more details on how the displayed data is generated, please refer to the CS2EO Algorithm Theoretical Baseline Document.