Surface elevation changes of glaciers in the European Alps between 2000 and 2014

Glaciers in the European Alps are known to be strongly affected by global climate change. Here we provide temporally consistent changes in glacier area, surface elevation and ice mass over the entire European Alps between 2000 and 2014. Our measurements show strong glacier surface lowering throughout the European Alps with regional variability in average ice thickness changes (-0.5 to -0.9 ma-1). For the entire Alps we estimate a mass loss of 1.3±0.2 Gta-1 (2000-2014). Our results provide important information for future socio-economic research, such as water resource management, tourism and risk assessment, and for the calibration and validation of glacier change projections. […]