World’s glaciers could lose up to 40% of their mass by 2100 reports a study by David Rounce, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

The study’s researchers modeled glaciers around the world, excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, to predict how they would be affected by global temperature increases of 1.5 to 4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The study found that with 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, 50% of the world’s glaciers would disappear and contribute 9cm to sea level rise by 2100.

If the world reaches 2.7 degrees Celsius, almost all the glaciers in Central Europe, in western Canada and the US, including Alaska, will melt. If temperatures reach 4 degrees Celsius, 80% of the world’s glaciers will disappear and contribute to a 15cm (6in) rise in sea levels.

“Regardless of warming, the glaciers will experience a lot of loss,” Rounce said. “This is inevitable.”

The work by Rounce and colleagues marks the first modeling study using satellite-derived mass change data to describe all of the world’s 215,000 glaciers.

Glaciers in remote areas, far from human activities, are particularly strong indicators of climate change. Rapidly melting glaciers affect freshwater availability, landscapes, tourism, ecosystems, frequency and severity of hazards, and sea level rise.

“Sea level rise is not just a problem for a few specific locations,” said Ben Hamlington, head of NASA’s Sea Level Change Team. “It grows almost everywhere on Earth.”

This study was funded by NASA and was conducted in conjunction with the NASA Sea Level Change Team and the NASA High Mountain Asia Team.