Glossary

South America's Patagonian icefields are melting away at some of the highest rates on the planet, contributing to sea level rise. Satellite images highlight this dynamic region.

The laser ranging interferometer (LRI) instrument has been successfully switched on aboard the recently launched twin U.S./German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) satellites.

A plume of warm water is the reason one of two adjoining glaciers in Greenland is melting almost four times as fast as the other.

An international oceanography satellite that is tracking the ongoing rise in global sea level marks a decade in orbit.

Ice losses from Antarctica have tripled since 2012, increasing global sea levels by 0.12 inch (3 millimeters) in that timeframe alone.

A patch of high sea level called a Kelvin wave is slowly traveling east along the equator in the Pacific Ocean. This type of wave is often a precursor to an El Niño event.