A gigantic iceberg nearly the size of Greater London has broken free from the 492-foot-thick Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Cracks that had been developing naturally in the ice shelf over the past few years had expanded across the entire shelf, causing the iceberg to finally calve on Sunday, according to a British Antarctic Survey […]
A massive Antarctic glacier is less stable and could potentially cause more and more rapid sea level rise than previously predicted, a study published Monday in Nature Geoscience finds. The Thwaites Glacier, known as the “doomsday glacier” because it holds enough water to raise global sea levels by multiple feet, is especially susceptible to rising ocean […]
This summer has hit Europe hard with heat waves and drought, and there’s no better gauge for the extremity of the situation than the Swiss Alps, where glaciers have been melting at an unprecedented pace. The mountains have been warming so quickly due to the climate crisis that the bare earth of a mountain pass […]
On Monday, meteorologists in Switzerland sent weather balloons over Alpine country in search for the freezing point. The weather balloons had to rise over 5,100 meters (over 17,000 feet), before finding the freezing point, setting a new record and breaking the previous highest freezing point of 27 years ago.
Earlier this week, at least seven people died when a chunk of a glacier from the tallest mountain in the Dolomites, Marmolada, collapsed, The New York Times reported. At least 14 people were also missing. The recent heatwave in Italy has been cited as a factor, as large portions of ice are thought to have […]
New Zealand is famous for its breathtaking landscapes, including its nearly 3,000 glaciers. But now, scientists are warning that these icy behemoths could be lost to the climate crisis. After an annual survey, a team of New Zealand scientists reported that more than 50 South Island glaciers were continuing to lose snow and ice. “What […]
A crucial ice shelf in Antarctica is at risk of collapse within as little as five years, scientists at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union said on Monday. The Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, which holds a third of the crucial Thwaites Glacier in place, has been weakening and has developed cracks, satellite images showed. […]
Usually, humans huddle up in blankets to stay warm in the winter. For the glaciers of Switzerland, however, the opposite is true. A ski resort in the Swiss Alps is using blankets to protect a glacier from melting in the summer sun. “We lay the fleece over the glacier like a natural protective shield,” Gian […]
By Jake Johnson This past weekend, researchers at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station observed rainfall at the peak of Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet for the first time on record — an event driven by warming temperatures. “This was the third time in less than a decade, and the latest date in the year […]