Confronting images from a new aerial survey shows New Zealand glaciers are shrinking in size after a record-breaking heat this summer.
That's according to NIWA climate scientist, Dr Andrew Lorrey who led this year's annual aerial snowline survey that took place in March.
"When you start comparing models taken from 2015 to 2016 to 2017 to 2018 you can actually calculate the amount of volume of ice that's changed from year to year," he said.
For the last 40 years NIWA's aerial snowline survey has been tracking our most important glaciers.
"These are holding a lot of our water for the South Island, it's crucial for power generation, it's crucial for agriculture, so it's important to monitor what's up top of the water towers," Dr Lorrey said.
In total 30 of the 50 glaciers surveyed have snowlines above the top of the mountain and they've lost 30 per cent of the ice they had 40-years-ago.
Glaciologist Trevor Chinn started the survey in the late 70's and is shocked by what he's seen.
"They've gained nothing in the last 12 months, they've lost all the snow they gained last winter plus some of the winter before, it's quite a bad year for glaciers," Mr Chinn said.
"There's rocks sticking out everywhere, the melt back is phenomenal, one third of it has melted away in 40 years.
"A glacier is the best climate change indicator you can use," he said.
The annual survey forms part of the Climate Present and Past project, which looks at recent and historical climate data to track past variability and changes in climate.
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