Speed of glacier retreat worldwide 'historically unprecedented', says report

Researchers have recorded rapid rises in meltwater and alarming rates of glacial retreat, which are accelerating at a pace double that of a decade ago

The world's glaciers are in retreat. The great tongues of ice high in the Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps and the Rockies are going back uphill at ever greater speeds, according to new research.

And this loss of ice is both accelerating and "historically unprecedented", say scientists who report in the Journal of Glaciology.