Glaciers around the globe are experiencing a similar problem, as new research suggests they are declining fast.
According to The Guardian, authors of a study published in The Journal of Glaciology called the world's glacier loss "historically unprecedented." For their work, the researchers examined cases of melting in Greenland and West Antarctica, as well as coastal mountains in Canada, Alaska, Europe, and the Himalayan massif.
Previous studies have been just as bleak when looking at individual examples. For example, CBS News pointed to a study in May that indicated glaciers in the Himalayan region when Mount Everest is located could retreat up to 99 percent by the year 2100.
The new study aims to make glacial loss a big picture matter, meaning some regions' glaciers may advance one year or another, but it will still be part of an overall decline.
"The observed glaciers currently lose between half a meter and one meter of ice thickness every year - this is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century," study lead author, Michael Zemp, director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, said in a statement. "Exact measurements of this ice loss are reported from a few hundred glaciers only. However, these results are qualitatively confirmed from field and satellite observations for tens of thousands of glaciers around the world."
