Human activity has driven retreat of Antarctica's fastest melting glacier

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/human-activity-has-driven-retreat-of-antarcticas-fastest-melting-glacier

29 June 2026

The first study to directly attribute Antarctic glacier retreat to climate change shows Pine Island Glacier was pushed significantly further by human driven warming.

Human-driven climate change significantly intensified the retreat of one the most important glaciers in the Antarctica during the twentieth century.

The Pine Island Glacier, which drains a large part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the Amundsen Sea, is one of the single biggest contributors to global sea level rise.

This landmark research, led by scientists at King’s College London and the British Antarctic Survey and published in The Cryosphere, is the first study to directly attribute the changes of a major Antarctic outlet glacier to the activities of humans.

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❝Our results show that climate change made the retreat of the Pine Island Glacier substantially worse,” said Dr Bradley, the study’s lead author. “Without sustained warming of the surrounding ocean since the mid twentieth century, the glacier would not have retreated as far as it has.❞

Dr Alex Bradley, a Lecturer in Climate and Environmental Science at King's College London

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Bradley, A. T. et al. Detection and attribution of the role of anthropogenic climate change in industrial-era retreat of Pine Island Glacier. The Cryosphere 20, 3443–3465 (2026). https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3443-2026

(Video available at link.)