Snow and Avalanches News

March 27, 2025

Top Headlines

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 precipitation phase is critical for weather ...

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 drier on average, especially in winter. This ...

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 birth then emerge with their ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:20pm EDT

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 ...

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 ...

'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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Antarctica's Irregular Heartbeat Shows Signs of Rapid Melting

Dec. 10, 2024 — Geoscientists have created a new climate record for early Antarctic ice ages. It reveals that the early Antarctic ice sheet melted more rapidly than previously ...

Record-Low Antarctic Sea Ice Can Be Explained and Forecast Months out by Patterns in Winds

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers show that the all-time record low in winter sea ice extent in 2023 can be explained by warm Southern Ocean conditions and patterns in the winds that circled Antarctica months earlier, ...

Alaska's Changing Environment

Dec. 3, 2024 — The University of Alaska Fairbanks released a new report this week highlighting environmental changes and extremes that impact Alaskans and their livelihoods. 'Alaska's Changing ...

Countdown to an Ice-Free Arctic: New Research Warns of Accelerated Timelines

Dec. 3, 2024 — Scientists demonstrate how a series of extreme weather events could lead to the Arctic's first ice-free day within just a few ...

The Melting of Greenland: A Climate Challenge With Major Implications for the 21st Century

Nov. 29, 2024 — The melting of Greenland is accelerating, with an estimated loss of between 964 and 1735 gigatons of ice per year by 2100 in a scenario of high greenhouse gas emissions (SSP585), according to three ...

Researchers Show Complex Relationship Between Arctic Warming and Arctic Dust

Nov. 26, 2024 — A study found that dust from snow- and ice-free areas of the Arctic could be an important contributor to climate change in the region. Higher levels of dust help promote the formation of ice crystals ...

Under-Ice Species at Risk as Arctic Warms

Nov. 26, 2024 — 'Specialist' lifeforms that live under Arctic sea ice are at risk as the ice retreats, new research ...

Faster Flowing Glaciers Could Help Predict Nearby Volcanic Activity

Nov. 14, 2024 — Glaciers that are within three miles of a volcano move nearly 50% quicker than average, a new study has found, which could help create early warning of future ...

Measurements from 'Lost' Seaglider Offer New Insights Into Antarctic Ice Melting

Nov. 8, 2024 — New research reveals for the first time how a major Antarctic ice shelf has been subjected to increased melting by warming ocean waters over the last four decades. Scientists say the study -- the ...

Planting Trees in the Arctic Could Make Global Warming Worse, Not Better, Say Scientists

Nov. 7, 2024 — Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees' ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, an international ...