Snow and Avalanches News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

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 ice sheet centered over Norway extended towards ...

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 sheep that live there, according to new ...

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 ...

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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 ...

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. 27, 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 ...

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 ...

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. 13, 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 ...

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 ...

Groundbreaking Study Provides New Evidence of When Earth Was Slushy

Nov. 5, 2024 — At the end of the last global ice age, the deep-frozen Earth reached a built-in limit of climate change and thawed into a slushy planet. Results provide the first direct geochemical evidence of the ...

Large Meltwater Accumulation Revealed Inside Greenland Ice Sheet

Oct. 30, 2024 — A new study unveils a surprising discovery: a substantial amount of meltwater is temporarily stored within the Greenland Ice Sheet during summer months. For the first time, an international group of ...

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 ...

Melting Arctic Sea-Ice Could Affect Global Ocean Circulation

Oct. 27, 2024 — The warming climate in polar regions may significantly disrupt ocean circulation patterns, a new study indicates. Scientists discovered that in the distant past, growing inflows of freshwater from ...

Paws of Polar Bears Sustaining Ice-Related Injuries in a Warming Arctic

Oct. 22, 2024 — Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing ...

Hidden Biological Processes Can Affect How the Ocean Stores Carbon

Oct. 10, 2024 — Microscopic organisms in the ocean play a key role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A new study unveils a hidden biological factor that could change our understanding of how this ...

Snowflake Dance Analysis Could Improve Rain Forecasts

Oct. 10, 2024 — Research observing the physical motion of falling ice crystals could help scientists better estimate where and when these crystals will melt into ...

El Niño Linked to Accelerated Ice Loss in Tropics

Oct. 8, 2024 — Natural climate patterns such as El Nino are causing tropical glaciers to lose their ice at an alarming rate, a new study has ...

Antarctic 'Greening' at Dramatic Rate

Oct. 7, 2024 — Vegetation cover across the Antarctic Peninsula has increased more than tenfold over the last four decades, new research ...

Atmospheric Blocking Slows Ocean-Driven Melting of Greenland's Largest Glacier Tongue

Sep. 24, 2024 — Northeast Greenland is home to the 79 N Glacier -- the country's largest floating glacier tongue, but also one seriously threatened by global warming: warm water from the Atlantic is melting it ...

Rapid Loss of Antarctic Ice After 2100 Likely Under Current Emissions

Sep. 20, 2024 — A new study by more than 50 climate scientists worldwide provides the clearest projection that Antarctica's ice sheet will retreat rapidly after 2100 under current carbon emissions, with global ...

Lake Ice Quality Degrading as Planet Warms -- Skaters, Hockey Players, Ice Truckers on Thin Ice

Sep. 19, 2024 — Ice may look safe for a game of pick-up hockey on the lake, but as a new study has found, looks can be deceiving. Warming winters are not only affecting ice thickness and timing -- when a lake ...

Arctic Warming May Fuel Ice Formation in Clouds

Sep. 19, 2024 — Rising temperatures are thought to reduce the number of ice crystals in clouds, leading to the formation of liquid-dominated clouds. However, a new study has found that Arctic warming is causing an ...

Exceptional Warm Air Intrusions and Omnipresent Aerosol Layers in the Stratosphere

Sep. 13, 2024 — Extremely clean air on the ground, warm air intrusions and sulphate aerosol at high altitudes -- a research project has gained new insights into clouds in ...

New Discovery About Ice Layer Formation in Ice Sheets Can Improve Sea Level Rise Predictions

Sep. 12, 2024 — A newly discovered mechanism for the flow and freezing of ice sheet meltwater could improve estimates of sea level rise around the globe. Researchers have found a new mechanism that explains the ...

How Earth's Most Intense Heat Wave Ever Impacted Life in Antarctica

Sep. 4, 2024 — An atmospheric river brought warm, moist air to the coldest and driest corner of the planet in 2022, pushing temperatures 70 degrees above average. A new study reveals what happened to ...

Scientists Uncover Hidden Source of Snow Melt: Dark Brown Carbon

Sep. 4, 2024 — Researchers have quantified the effect of dark brown carbon on snow ...

Photosynthesis in Near Darkness

Sep. 4, 2024 — Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of a study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The ...

A Better Understanding of Climate Change: Researchers Study Cloud Movement in the Arctic

Sep. 4, 2024 — Special features of the Arctic climate, such as the strong reflection of the sun's rays off the light snow or the low position of the sun, amplify global warming in the Arctic. However, ...

Researchers Reveal the Causes for Greenland's Abnormal Warming

Aug. 27, 2024 — The climate factors revealed in a new study shed light on Greenland's climate and can help predict the future development of Greenland's ice ...

Highest Prediction of Sea-Level Rise Unlikely

Aug. 21, 2024 — A new study challenges as highly unlikely an alarming prediction of sea-level rise that -- while designated as low likelihood --earned a spot in the latest UN climate report for its projection that ...

New Study Reveals Devastating Power and Colossal Extent of a Giant Underwater Avalanche Off the Moroccan Coast

Aug. 21, 2024 — New research has revealed how an underwater avalanche grew more than 100 times in size causing a massive trail of destruction as it traveled 2000km across the Atlantic Ocean seafloor off the North ...