Ice Ages News

March 23, 2025

Top Headlines

Shrinking Andean Glaciers Threaten Water Supply of 90 Million People, Global Policy Makers Warn

Mar. 20, 2025 — Scientists will warn policymakers that the shrinking glaciers of the Andes threaten the water supply of 90 million people on the South American continent at the first-ever World Day for Glaciers ...

Aotearoa Once Home to Elephant Seals

Mar. 20, 2025 — Southern elephant seals are the 'canary in the coal mine' for the Southern Ocean, offering insight into how the ecosystem may react to future climate change and human impact, new research ...

Without Oxygen: How Primordial Microbes Breathed

Mar. 17, 2025 — A team of scientists have elucidated an ancient mechanism of cellular respiration. To that end, they studied bacteria that feed on the gases carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and turn them into acetic acid -- a metabolic pathway that emerged very early ...

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 ...

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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 ...

Researchers Quantify the Way Rivers Bend, Opening Up the Possibility for Identifying Origins of Channels on Other Planets

Mar. 5, 2025 — Whether it's rivers cutting through earth, lava melting through rock, or water slicing through ice, channels all twist and bend in a seemingly ...

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, ...

Giant Ice Bulldozers: How Ancient Glaciers Helped Life Evolve

Feb. 25, 2025 — New research has revealed how massive ancient glaciers acted like giant bulldozers, reshaping Earth's surface and paving the way for complex life to flourish. By chemically analyzing crystals in ...

Arctic Study Urges Stronger Climate Action to Prevent Catastrophic Warming

Feb. 24, 2025 — Remember when 2 degrees Celsius of global warming was the doomsday scenario? Well, we're now staring down the barrel of something much worse. From the fish on your plate to the weather outside your ...

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 ...

'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 ...

Repeated Invasions Shape NZ's Bird Life

Feb. 18, 2025 — New esearch shows Aotearoa has been increasingly accepting new bird species from around the world since the start of the Ice Age, offering clues into future migration ...

Research Reveals How Earth Got Its Ice Caps

Feb. 14, 2025 — The cool conditions which have allowed ice caps to form on Earth are rare events in the planet's history and require many complex processes working at once, according to new ...

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 ...

Global Warming and Mass Extinctions: What We Can Learn from Plants from the Last Ice Age

Feb. 12, 2025 — Global warming is producing a rapid loss of plant species -- according to estimates, roughly 600 plant species have died out since 1750 -- twice the number of animal species lost. But which species ...

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 ...

Evidence of Cannibalism 18,000 Years Ago

Feb. 11, 2025 — An international research team has gained new insights into the burial rituals of Late Ice Age societies in Central Europe. Signs of human remains from the Maszycka Cave in southern Poland being ...

New Autonomous System to Monitor Arctic's Melting Ice

Feb. 10, 2025 — Researchers have designed an alternative, autonomous observational method to monitor the Arctic's melting ice, which holds promise for improving the autonomy of marine vehicles, aiding in ...

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 ...

Scientist Discovers 16 New Grasshopper Species, Champions Desert Biodiversity

Feb. 7, 2025 — A scientist has discovered a hopping treasure trove -- 16 new species of grasshoppers living in the thorny scrubs of U.S. and Mexican ...

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 ...

Discovery of Water Droplet Freezing Bridges Atmospheric Science, Climate Solutions

Feb. 4, 2025 — A groundbreaking study on the freezing of water droplets suspended in air sheds light on a key process in Earth's water cycle: the transformation of supercooled water into ...

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 ...

Groundwater in Arctic Is Delivering More Carbon Into the Ocean Than Was Previously Known

Jan. 30, 2025 — A relatively small amount of groundwater trickling through Alaska's tundra is releasing huge quantities of carbon into the ocean, where it can contribute to climate ...

Polar Bear Population Decline the Direct Result of Extended 'Energy Deficit' Due to Lack of Food

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers have directly linked population decline in polar bears living in Western Hudson Bay to shrinking sea ice caused by climate ...

Walk Like a ... Gecko? Animal Footpads Inspire a Polymer That Sticks to Ice

Jan. 30, 2025 — A solution to injuries from slips and falls may be found underfoot -- literally. The footpads of geckos have hydrophilic (water-loving) mechanisms that allow the little animals to easily move over ...

Lead Contamination in Ancient Greece Points to Societal Change

Jan. 30, 2025 — Studies of sediment cores from the sea floor and the coastal regions surrounding the Aegean Sea show that humans contaminated the environment with lead early on in antiquity. Geoscientists conducted ...

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 ...

Bad Hair Bears! Greasy Hair Gives Polar Bears Fur With Anti-Icing Properties

Jan. 29, 2025 — Scientists have discovered the anti-icing secret of polar bear fur -- something that allows one of the planet's most iconic animals to survive and thrive in one of its most punishing climates. ...

Mapping Antarctica's Hidden Ice-Free Lands: A Blueprint for Conservation

Jan. 28, 2025 — Researchers unveil a new map and classification system that will help protect the unique plants and animals of Earth's most remote and fragile ...