Snow and Avalanches News

May 14, 2025

Top Headlines

Satellites Observe Glacier Committing 'Ice Piracy'

May 8, 2025 — A glacier in Antarctica is committing 'ice piracy' -- stealing ice from a neighbor -- in a phenomenon that has never been observed in such a short time frame, say ...

Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean

May 2, 2025 — The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to global warming not only increases the amount of light entering the ocean, but also changes its color. These changes have far-reaching consequences for photosynthetic organisms such as ice algae ...

Western US Spring Runoff Is Older Than You Think

May 5, 2025 — Hydrologists show most streamflow out of the West's mountains is old snowmelt on a multi-year underground journey. New study finds that spring runoff is on average 5 years ...

'Cryosphere Meltdown' Will Impact Arctic Marine Carbon Cycles and Ecosystems, New Study Warns

Apr. 25, 2025 — A new study has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of Arctic fjords to serve as effective carbon sinks. The findings suggest that the capacity of polar oceans to ...

Latest Headlines

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Melting Glaciers at the End of the Ice Age May Have Sped Up Continental Drift, Fueled Volcanic Eruptions

Apr. 23, 2025 — Scientists believe that the motion of Earth's continents through plate tectonics has been largely steady over millions of years. New research, ...

Why Are Patagonian Glaciers Rapidly Losing Mass?

Apr. 23, 2025 — Over the past two decades, satellite-based planetary observations have recorded rapid mass loss of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm per year to global sea-level rise. A study ...

Major Dust-Up for Water in the Colorado River

Apr. 22, 2025 — Dust-on-snow is a major threat to water in the Colorado River, yet no snowmelt forecasts integrate dust-accelerated melt. Using pioneering remote sensing techniques, new research is the first to ...

Pioneering Research Reveals Arctic Matter Pathways Poised for Major Shifts Amidst Climate Change

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study has shed unprecedented light on the highly variable and climate-sensitive routes that substances from Siberian rivers use to travel ...

Rocky Mountain Snow Is Contaminated, Study Shows

Apr. 1, 2025 — Mountain snowpacks accumulate snow throughout the winter, building up stores of water that will supply communities across the American West throughout the long dry season. Now, a new study shows that ...

Drone Experiment Reveals How Greenland Ice Sheet Is Changing

Mar. 28, 2025 — A new study measured water vapor in Greenland's air, collecting data crucial for improving climate models and forecasting Arctic ...

Melting Ice, More Rain Drive Southern Ocean Cooling

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers found increased meltwater and rain explain 60% of a decades-long mismatch between predicted and observed temperatures in the ocean around ...

Blurring the Line Between Rain and Snow: Limits of Meteorological Classification

Mar. 26, 2025 — A new study uncovers a critical challenge in accurately classifying precipitation as rain or snow using surface weather data. Accurately identifying ...

Arctic Sea Ice Loss Drives Drier Weather Over California and Wetter Over Spain and Portugal

Mar. 11, 2025 — On decadal timescales, the loss of Arctic ice favors the climate of the south-west of the United States -- and California in particular -- becoming ...

Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have combined satellite collar data with specialized cameras to shed light on one of the most mysterious and important stages in polar bears' lives -- maternal denning, when bears give ...

Melting Antarctic Ice Sheets Will Slow Earth's Strongest Ocean Current

Mar. 3, 2025 — Melting ice sheets are slowing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world's strongest ocean current, researchers have found. This melting has implications for global climate indicators, ...

Mega-Iceberg from Antarctica on Collision Course With South Georgia: Harbinger of Things to Come?

Feb. 24, 2025 — It is no strange sight to see icebergs break off of the Antarctic ice cap and drift away, like the gigantic sheet of ice that is currently heading for the island of South Georgia. But climate change ...

Nitrogen Fixation on Marine Particles Is Important in the Global Ocean

Feb. 19, 2025 — Nitrogen is essential for all life on Earth. In the global oceans, however, this element is scarce, and nitrogen availability is therefore critical for the growth of marine life. Some bacteria found ...

Global Retreat of Glaciers Has Strongly Accelerated

Feb. 19, 2025 — Researchers present a global assessment of ice loss since the beginning of the millennium. In a global comparison, the glaciers in the Alps and Pyrenees are melting the ...

'Glacial Fracking': A Hidden Source of Arctic Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Feb. 19, 2025 — Arctic glaciers are leaking significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Glacial melt rivers and groundwater springs are transporting large volumes of methane from beneath the ice to the ...

Resilient Algae May Speed Up Greenland Ice Melt

Feb. 19, 2025 — New research reveals that ice algae can store nutrients which may enable them to colonize more of the ice sheet, darkening and melting ...

Nanoplastics at Lofty Heights

Feb. 13, 2025 — Nanoplastics -- plastic particles smaller than 1 m -- are widely dispersed because of their low weight. A research team now shows the extent to which glaciers at an altitude of more than 3,000 m in ...

Arctic Cyclones Could Be Missing Link in Sea Ice Depletion Models

Feb. 12, 2025 — A study gives possible insight into the underprediction of sea ice depletion and the formation of Arctic cyclones. The study could lead to more accurate weather and climate models and better ...

Model of Antarctica's Water Enhances Sea Level Forecasts

Feb. 11, 2025 — Researchers have generated the first dataset of water flow beneath the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet, which will lead to more accurate projections of sea level rise. The team modeled Antarctica's ...

An Arctic 'Beyond Recognition' by 2100

Feb. 7, 2025 — Based on the current pledges of countries for limiting their emissions of greenhouse gases, global temperatures are projected to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels by the end of ...

Ice Streams Move Due to Tiny Ice Quakes

Feb. 6, 2025 — An international team of researchers has shown that countless tiny ice quakes take place in one of Greenland's mightiest ice streams. This finding will allow the flowing of the ice sheet and ...

More, Bigger Crevasses Open Up in Greenland Ice Sheet, Threatening Increased Sea Level Rise

Feb. 3, 2025 — More crevasse activity could lead to positive feedback loop threatening Greenland glacier's ...

Temperature, Rainfall and Tides Speed Glacier Flow on a Daily Basis

Feb. 3, 2025 — Detailed study of a Greenland glacier's flow rate reveals the impact of environmental ...

Antarctic Fast Ice Secrets

Jan. 29, 2025 — Scientists have successfully analyzed more than 30 years of vital data on the thickness of landfast sea ice in Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, which will prove useful to measure future impacts of ...

How Animal Poop Helps Ecosystems Adapt to Climate Change

Jan. 27, 2025 — Relatives of the llama are dropping dung as they venture into higher elevations in the Andes Mountains, providing a nutrient-rich environment for life to thrive despite glacier ...

Researchers Use Lab Data to Rewrite Equation for Deformation, Flow of Watery Glacier Ice

Jan. 9, 2025 — Laboratory experiments designed to deform ice at its pressure-melting temperature were like grabbing a bagel at the top and the bottom, then twisting the two halves to smear the cream cheese in the ...

Marked Decrease in Arctic Pressure Ridges

Jan. 6, 2025 — In the Arctic, the old, multiyear ice is increasingly melting, dramatically reducing the frequency and size of pressure ridges. These ridges are created when ice floes press against each other and ...

ESA and NASA Satellites Deliver First Joint Picture of Greenland Ice Sheet Melting

Dec. 20, 2024 — Scientists have delivered the first measurements of Greenland Ice Sheet thickness change using data from ESA and NASA ice satellite missions. With global warming causing the Greenland Ice Sheet to ...

Buried Landforms Reveal North Sea's Ancient Glacial Past

Dec. 13, 2024 — Glaciologists used sound waves to reveal Ice Age landforms buried beneath almost 1 km of mud in the North Sea. The results suggest that the landforms were produced about 1 million years ago, when an ...

Bighorn Sheep Face Death by Avalanche in Sierra Nevada Range

Dec. 10, 2024 — Snow cover in the Sierra Nevada is expected to shrink overall as the climate warms, but avalanche frequency could remain the same or even increase at high elevations. That's bad news for bighorn ...