Washington (AFP) – Measuring melting ice is a fairly precise business in 2019 — thanks to satellites, weather stations and sophisticated climate models.

By the 1990s and 2000s, scientists were able to make pretty good estimates, although work from previous decades was unreliable due to less advanced technology.

Now, researchers have recalculated the amount of ice lost in Greenland since 1972, the year the first Landsat satellites entered orbit to regularly photograph the Danish territory.

“When you look at several decades, it is best to sit back in your chair before looking at the results, because it is a bit scary to see how fast it is changing,” said French glaciologist Eric Rignot, of the University of California at Irvine.