Polar Ice Melting at Higher Rate

A large international study has determined that the melting of land ice in both Greenland and Antarctica is at a rate three times higher than during the 1990s.  While eastern Antarctica is gaining ice, losses on the rest of the continent are twice as large.

Update (December 24):  The temperature rise in West Antarctica may be twice as much as previous estimates (2.4 degrees Celsius since 1958).

Update (April 15, 2013):  The summer ice melt in parts of Antarctica is at the highest rate in 1000 years.