Sediments under the nearby Weddell Sea show no evidence of any such ice loss over the past 4.8 million years, the scientists found.
Computer climate simulations of the same period had an average rate of ice loss of 2.5 percent per decade.
In terms of total area, the Serson collapse was the largest ice loss on Ellesmere this summer.
The scientists measuring the health of almost 30 glaciers around the world found that ice loss reached record levels in 2006.
The fact that it's above linear, this is the important idea, that ice loss is increasing with time," she says.
Pro-teeting the more delicate growths and preventing ice losses became its primary concern.
The rate of ice loss was accelerating, having grown from 137 gigatons in 2002-2003.
There is concern about sea level rise caused by ice loss (melt and glaciers falling into the sea) on Greenland.
The increased ice loss may be partially offset by increased snow accumulation due to increased precipitation.
If you are correct, why did the paper which is the topic of this article state that ice loss has averaged 100-200 Gt/yr?