Researchers using data from a pair of satellites have found that the loss of ice mass in Greenland sped up in the last two years.

The researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder calculated that from April 2004 to April 2006, Greenland lost roughly 680 cubic kilometres of ice — more than the volume of water in Lake Erie.

A previous study, in the August issue of Science, found that Greenland was losing about 240 cubic kilometres of ice annually from 2002 to 2005.

"We think the changes we are seeing are probably a pretty good indicator of the changing climatic conditions in Greenland, particularly in the southern region," said researcher Isabella Velicogna in a statement.

Data for the study, which was published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, came from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, a study that uses two satellites that measure changes in Earth's gravity field.

The GRACE satellites orbit the Earth 16 times a day at an altitude of 500 kilometres. The two satellites, always 220 kilometres apart, can measure subtle changes in the Earth's gravitational field.

GRACE was funded by NASA and the German Aerospace Centre.

Velicogna said several research groups have found that temperatures in southern Greenland have risen by about 2.5 C in the past two decades.