Based on the glacier mass balance data released by the World Glacier Monitoring Service,variation of 40 reference glacier mass balances all over the world were analyzed. It was found that since 1984,36 of the 40 reference glaciers,have retreated,especially in the middle latitude regions,global glaciers have shown a trend of accelerated ablation after 2000,with a multi-year average of mass balance of - 563 mm and a cumulative mass balance of - 18 590 mm. The decadal mean mass balance of global reference glaciers have been descending step by step,and the mass balance declining by about 200 mm every ten years,especially from 1990 to 2010. Due to the different regional climate change and the different response of glaciers to climate,the glacier mass balance has shown significant regional characteristics and the mass balance has gradually increased from north to south, showing typical latitude and longitude features. Temperature is the main factor controlling the glacier mass balance change,the variation process of mass balance has been usually associated with climate fluctuation in each regions.