Snow and Avalanches News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Say Next Few Years Vital to Securing the Future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

June 3, 2025 — Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be triggered with very little ocean warming above present-day, leading to a devastating four meters of global sea level rise to play out over hundreds ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 links this mass loss to a poleward shift of ...

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 capture how dust impacts the headwaters of the ...

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 as storms carry snow to the Rocky Mountains, they ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 in marine waters can convert nitrogen gas (N2) to ...

'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 atmosphere. This previously unrecognized process ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:26pm EDT

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Why Isn't Colorado's Snowpack Ending Up in the Colorado River? New Research Suggests the Problem Might Be the Lack of Spring Rainfall

Aug. 16, 2024 — The Colorado River and its tributaries provide water for hydropower, irrigation and drinking water in seven U.S. states and Mexico. But since 2000, water managers have struggled to predict how much ...

How the Rising Earth in Antarctica Will Impact Future Sea Level Rise

Aug. 2, 2024 — The rising earth beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet will likely become a major factor in future sea level rise, a new study ...

Retreat of Tropical Glaciers Foreshadows Changing Climate's Effect on the Global Ice

Aug. 1, 2024 — As they are in many places around the globe, glaciers perched high in the Andes Mountains are shrinking. Now, researchers have uncovered evidence that the high-altitude tropical ice fields are likely ...

Climate Change May Lead to Shifts in Vital Pacific Arctic Fisheries

Aug. 1, 2024 — Commercially important marine fish and invertebrate species will likely shift northwards under a warmer climate, according to new ...

Warming Has More Impact Than Cooling on Greenland's 'Firn'

July 25, 2024 — A new study finds disproportionate effects of temperature shifts on an icy glacier ...

Scientists Discover Missing Piece in Climate Models

July 15, 2024 — As the planet continues to warm due to human-driven climate change, accurate computer climate models will be key in helping illuminate exactly how the climate will continue to be altered in the years ...

Scientists Call for 'Major Initiative' to Study Whether Geoengineering Should Be Used on Glaciers

July 11, 2024 — Scientists have released a landmark report on glacial geoengineering -- an emerging field studying whether technology could halt the melting of glaciers and ice sheets as climate change ...

The Dawn of the Antarctic Ice Sheets

July 4, 2024 — In recent years global warming has left its mark on the Antarctic ice sheets. The 'eternal' ice in Antarctica is melting faster than previously assumed, particularly in West Antarctica more ...