The world's glaciers are melting at the fastest rate since record-keeping began and those keeping track say the trend will continue with climate change.

A study published in the Journal of Glaciology on Tuesday combined data from hundreds of glaciers worldwide to show the global trend is one of retreat.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), led by the University of Zurich, gathers glacier data from more than 30 countries. The new analysis shows the rate of retreat between 2001 and 2010 was greater than any decade last century.

Brian Anderson Footage from a time-lapse camera shows Franz Josef Glacier in July 2015, illustrating dramatic retreat.

WGMS director Michael Zemp said the monitored glaciers were losing between half a metre and one metre of ice thickness every year.

"This is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century."

Victoria University's Dr Brian Anderson is the New Zealand correspondent for the group. Along with the University of Otago's Dr Nicolas Cullen, he has been monitoring Brewster Glacier, near Haast, since 2004.

The Brewster Glacier was included in the global study, along with Rolleston Glacier near Arthur's Pass - studied by Dr Heather Purdie and Dr Tim Kerr.

Anderson said the world's glaciers had not always retreated at the same time. Since the last ice age, the climate in the northern and southern hemispheres was not always in sync, so glaciers had advanced and retreated at different times.

But glacier retreat in the 20th and 21st centuries had been dramatic and consistent across the globe and was a clear indicator of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

Some glaciers were recorded as advancing slightly during recent years, but these were short-term and limited compared to historic maximums.

Anderson said glaciers like Franz Josef and Fox exhibited short-term advances because they were particularly responsive to changes in climate.

"Franz Josef Glacier advanced a remarkable 1.4 kilometres between 1983 and 2000. But the glaciers are now retreating fast.

"The glaciers will advance again, because they respond so quickly to even a few years of higher snowfall or lower melt but, given the fact the Earth is warming, it's unlikely they will reach their 20th century maxima again."

Research published last year by Purdie and Anderson showed Fox and Franz Josef glaciers were retreating at least as fast, if not faster, than anything in the historic record.

The two glaciers, popular with tourists, were about as short as they had ever been, Anderson said.