Six years, one changing balance
The ice
we keep.
A glacier grows when snowfall adds more mass than melting removes. Follow this imagined glacier through six years of gains and losses.
−2.5 m
Cumulative change since the start of 2020, in meters of water equivalent.
−0.6 mannual balance
A balance, not a length
Water equivalent expresses the glacier’s mass change as a depth of liquid water spread over its area. It lets snow and ice be compared on the same scale.
2025: another loss
Accumulation of 1.3 m did not offset 1.9 m of loss. The annual balance was −0.6 m, bringing the six-year total to −2.5 m.
Snow gained
− mass lost
= annual balance
− mass lost
= annual balance
All values are fictional, constructed to explain mass balance. The ice illustration retreats symbolically; its length is not a physical projection. The first chart step starts after the 2020 balance of 0.0 m.