text: During the time period between 1947 and 1988, the total area of Heard Island's glaciers decreased by 11%, from 288 km2 (roughly 79% of the total area of Heard Island) to only 257 km2. A visit to the island in the spring of 2000 found that the Stephenson, Brown and Baudissin glaciers, among others, had retreated even further. The terminus of Brown Glacier has retreated approximately 1.1 kilometres since 1950. The total ice-covered area of Brown Glacier is estimated to have decreased by roughly 29% between 1947 and 2004. This degree of loss of glacier mass is consistent with the measured increase in temperature of +0.9 °C over that time span.
  The coastal ice cliffs of Brown Glacier and Stephenson Glacier, which in 1954 were over  high, had disappeared by 1963 when the glaciers terminated as much as  inland. Baudissin Glacier on the north coast has lost at least , and Vahsel Glacier on the west coast has lost at least . Winston Glacier, which retreated approximately  between 1947 and 1963, appears to be a very sensitive indicator of glacier change on the island. The young moraines flanking Winston Lagoon show that Winston Glacier has lost at least  of ice within a recent time period.
  The glaciers of Laurens Peninsula, whose maximum elevation is only 500 m above sea level, are smaller and shorter than most of the other Heard Island glaciers, and therefore much more sensitive to temperature effects. Accordingly, their total area has decreased by over 30 percent. Jacka Glacier on the east coast of Laurens Peninsula has also demonstrated marked recession since 1955. In the early 1950s, Jacka Glacier had receded only slightly from its position in the late 1920s, but by 1997 it had receded about 700 m back from the coastline.
  Possible causes of glacier recession on Heard Island include: