Numerical simulations found that erosion played a key role in driving magma production and subsequent volcanic activity at the end of the last ice age. The study's results may have implications for understanding climate change and atmospheric CO2 levels, as similar mechanisms are expected to occur at shorter timescales.
A Syracuse University professor examines the impact of the deep Earth on ice-sheet stability, particularly the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. His research suggests that regions with sub-glacial topography may be more stable today than during past global warming periods.
Scientists create artificial ice storm to study its effects on northern hardwood forests, including tree growth, pest and pathogen impacts, and nutrient cycling. The research aims to improve understanding of climate change's role in shaping forest ecosystems.
Researchers found dramatic changes in melt rate within less than a mile on the Ross Ice Shelf, which is normally stable. The study suggests freshwater from subglacial drainage systems contributes to melting, impacting the ice shelf's stability.
Researchers at Durham University have discovered a massive canyon system beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, stretching over 1,000km and potentially containing a subglacial lake. The discovery was made using satellite imagery and radio-echo sounding data, and is being confirmed through an airborne survey underway.
Clouds play a significant role in the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, with clouds enhancing meltwater runoff by a third. The study highlights the need for accurate cloud representations in climate models to estimate the amount of meltwater and mitigate global sea level rise.
Researchers found the Greenland ice sheet's firn layer is changing rapidly with climate change, altering its ability to store meltwater. The study suggests this could lead to higher-than-predicted sea level rise contributions from the ice sheet.
Researchers have made direct observations of the Greenland Ice Sheet's reduction and melting over the past 110 years. The study reveals that some areas have lost considerable amounts of ice during the twentieth century, with mass loss along the southeastern and northwestern coast contributing significantly to global sea level rise.
A new theory explains how ice becomes slippery when a hard material slides across it, improving ski design and understanding glacier movement. The study uses experimental data to connect temperature and sliding speed to friction on ice.
The Arctic Ocean is a significant source of atmospheric methane due to interactions between the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. The study found that sea ice can be a source of methane, releasing it into the atmosphere during melting and freezing processes.
A new study suggests that geophysical elements, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's gravitational pull and the mantle's fluid nature, can slow its retreat. This could lead to a less drastic rise in global sea levels than previously predicted.
The West Antarctic ice sheet could collapse completely if the Amundsen Basin is destabilized, resulting in a 3-meter sea-level rise. This process would be triggered by decades of ocean warming and would lead to centuries or millennia of continued ice loss.
A 20-year study in Arctic Alaska examines how woolly mammoths and other ice-age animals handled climate change. The study found that rapid climate changes during the ice age were beneficial for megafauna when rapid warming allowed grasses and forbs to spread.
Tufts University chemist Mary Jane Shultz has discovered a way to select specific surfaces of single-crystal ice for study. This breakthrough promises insights into climate and the environment, enabling researchers to better understand interactions between vapor and ice crystals in clouds.
A new NASA study finds that Antarctic ice sheet mass gains from increased snow accumulation exceed losses from glaciers, thickening East Antarctica and West Antarctica by an average of 0.7 inches per year. This small thickening corresponds to a large gain of ice, enough to outweigh global sea level rise.
Researchers found that despite increased ice melt, some areas of the ice sheet have slowed down, reducing sea level forecasts. The discovery was made using satellite data and shows that meltwater can slow glacier movement by producing channels at the base of the ice sheet.
Research found that southwest Greenland Ice Sheet movement decreased by 12% between 2007 and 2014, despite increasing surface melt. The study suggests that further increases in melting may not speed up the ice sheet's flow due to drainage channels established at its base.
Researchers at Princeton University have predicted a new phase of superionic ice with unusual conductivity properties. The P21/c-SI phase occurs at high pressures beyond giant ice planets, offering insights into the material's behavior.
Researchers found that particle surfaces can impact ice crystallization and encourage different ice crystal orientations. This discovery could help improve understanding of climate science, air travel, and cryopreservation.
The 2015 Antarctic maximum sea ice extent is the 22nd lowest on record, breaking a streak of record highs. The strong El Niño event had an impact on the sea ice distribution in west Antarctica, causing it to be 513,000 square miles below the previous record high.
A new study projects a doubling of Antarctic ice shelf surface melting by 2050 and a significant increase in melting by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. The research highlights the importance of climate policy in mitigating the effects of warming on ice shelves.
A team of experts has studied the water flow paths from a subglacial lake in Greenland, showing that it drained via a subglacial tunnel and was filled by surface meltwater. The study predicts increased drainage frequency as the Arctic warms, affecting ice sheet flow speeds and sea level change.
A new study from York University found that Arctic sea ice in the Northwest Passage remains too thick to support regular commercial shipping. The research measured ice thickness using an airplane equipped with a sounder and surveyed the ice in April and May of 2011 and again in 2015.
Scientists used UAF's Parallel Ice Sheet Model to estimate the impact of fossil fuels on Antarctica's ice sheet. The study found that releasing 10,000 gigatons of carbon could raise global temps by 20 degrees Fahrenheit, melting the Antarctic ice sheet and causing sea levels to rise by over 160 feet.
Methane emissions from Arctic tundra increase when sea ice melts due to altered ocean temperatures and microbial activity. The loss of sea ice has a significant impact on the Arctic climate, leading to higher temperatures and increased methane production.
The 2015 Arctic sea ice minimum extent is the fourth lowest on record, with a minimum of 1.70 million square miles. The decline in sea ice cover has accelerated since the late 1970s and is attributed to warming temperatures.
Researchers at CU-Boulder have developed a new technique for estimating sea ice concentration, improving US Navy forecasts by almost 40%. The blended input approach combines satellite data and human interpretation to capture smaller patches of sea ice, enhancing forecast accuracy.
Researchers used a high-resolution computer model to estimate West Antarctica's ice sheet loss over the next couple of centuries, predicting significant sea-level rise contributions. The study suggests that West Antarctica could lose 80,000 cubic kilometers of ice by 2100 and 200,000 cubic kilometers by 2200.
A team of scientists in Germany and Switzerland have identified the fungus Exidiopsis effusa as the cause of hair ice. The researchers found that the fungus enables the ice to form thin hairs, which are stabilized by a recrystallisation inhibitor provided by the fungus.
Researchers found that Arctic sea ice experienced a significant increase in volume after a cool summer in 2013, contrary to expected long-term decline trends. This suggests the ice pack is more sensitive to summer melting than winter cooling, enabling better predictions of future changes.
A new study reveals surprisingly high geothermal heating beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, contributing to melting of basal ice and potentially supporting microbial life. The measurement could help explain the ice sheet's rapid melting and destabilization, essential for predicting future behavior.
A new study found that the Laurentide ice sheet initially began shrinking through calving of icebergs before shifting into a regime where melting on the continent took precedence, leading to its demise. The shift in 'radiative forcing' prior to 9,000 years ago kicked deglaciation into overdrive.
A team of researchers has discovered that the presence of salty impurities in ice can push the formation of electrically conducting ice to occur at higher pressures, potentially explaining the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune. This finding challenges current assumptions about the physics of icy planetary bodies.
A dramatic ice sheet collapse at the end of the last ice age led to widespread climate changes and a sea level peak well above its present height. The research, published in Nature, reveals that this event was caused by the suppression of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Operation IceBridge successfully collected data over sea and land ice regions, releasing two sea ice data products to aid in forecasting Arctic sea ice behavior. The mission also supported various international research collaborations and provided valuable data to inform models predicting summer sea ice melt.
Researchers found that Greenland's inland lakes are unlikely to drain rapidly and exacerbate sea-level rise. Instead, they will likely drain through surface stream runoff, transferring water to coastal areas of the ice sheet.
Researchers detected a sudden onset of ice loss in Antarctica's Southern Antarctic Peninsula, with glaciers shedding 55 trillion liters of water annually. The region's ice loss shows no signs of waning and is attributed to warming oceans.
A beached iceberg in Antarctica has provided a unique natural experiment to study the effects of sea-ice changes on marine ecosystems. The study found that seaweed on the sea floor had decomposed or become discolored due to lack of light, while darker-adapted animals started to colonize the area.
The Larsen C Ice Shelf is losing an average of 4 metres of ice and lowering by one metre at the surface due to air loss from the top layer and warmer ocean currents. A collapse could occur within a century, contributing significantly to sea-level rise.
UTSA College of Sciences faculty members Stephen Ackley and Blake Weissling will embark on a 42-day trip to the Arctic Ocean to study the diminishing ice cover. They will join a team of scientists from around the world, including UTSA students who have conducted ice research in the region before.
Researchers analyzed gravity satellite data to conclude that Antarctica's ice cap is melting faster than ever. The southern continent lost 92 billion tons of ice per year from 2003 to 2014, with West Antarctica's ice sheet losing twice as much as East Antarctica.
Researchers have calculated the size of Mars' glaciers using radar observations and ice flow modeling. The ice is found in belts around the planet, between latitudes 300-500, and is equivalent to covering the entire surface with 1.1 meters of ice.
A new study reveals that the thickness of Antarctica's floating ice shelves has decreased by as much as 18 percent in certain areas over nearly two decades. The accelerated losses are attributed to climate change, with some ice shelves losing up to half their volume within the next 200 years.
A Danish-led project, EGRIP, will drill a 2½-kilometer deep ice core through northeast Greenland's large ice stream to gain new knowledge about the speed of ice movement and its contribution to rapid loss of the Greenland ice sheet. This information could improve forecasts of future sea level rise.
A new study suggests that Antarctic glaciers are more sensitive to climate change than previously thought due to Coulomb friction. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet's melting rate is significantly increased when accounting for frictional stresses, which can lead to accelerated sea-level rise.
A new study published in The Cryosphere reveals a significant thinning of Arctic sea ice over the past four decades. The research, led by University of Washington climatologist Ron Lindsay, shows that September ice thickness has decreased by 85% between 1975 and 2012.
A study found that only three populations of emperor penguins may have survived the last ice age, with the Ross Sea being a likely refuge for one population. Genetic diversity analysis suggests that conditions were too extreme for large populations to survive during the last ice age.
Scientists studied lake cores in Greenland to understand the ice sheet's response to a warm period 8,000-5,000 years ago. They found that during this time, the ice sheet was losing mass at a rate of 100 Gigaton per year, delivering an equivalent 16 cm of global sea-level rise.
Global sea ice has been decreasing at an average annual rate of 13,500 square miles since 1979, with the Arctic losing more than it gains in Antarctica. The Arctic ice decrease has accelerated over time, leading to increased absorption of solar radiation and further heating.
Researchers found that Arctic sea ice trend is influenced by internal variability, making long-term predictions challenging. There's a 34% chance of no change or growth in sea ice over a seven-year period, and a 5% chance of rapid loss.
Researchers at the University of Leeds have observed a remote Arctic ice cap thinning by over 50 meters and accelerating to speeds of several kilometers per year. The findings suggest that warmer ocean temperatures may be triggering this rapid ice loss, which has significant implications for sea level rise.
A Cornell University study reveals that surface meltwater can fill subglacial lakes beneath the ice sheet, providing heat to its bottom. This process could accelerate ice flow and alter the Greenland Ice Sheet's response to climate change.
Scientists have made new discoveries about Antarctica's geology and biology using a hot-water drill and an underwater robotic vehicle. The expedition uncovered a unique ecosystem of fish and invertebrates living in an estuary deep beneath the Antarctic ice.
A new study by Penn State geoscientists suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at a faster rate due to rising temperatures, with potential global sea level rise of up to 24 feet. The study's findings highlight the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate this effect and protect vulnerable communities.
A new UCLA-led study reveals a vast network of little-understood rivers and streams flowing on top of the Greenland ice sheet, potentially responsible for at least as much sea-level rise as other sources combined. The research found that meltwater from these waterways can flush their entire volume in less than two days, contributing to...
Scientists using NASA data have produced a comprehensive study of the Greenland Ice Sheet's hidden plumbing and melt water flow. The research suggests that current ice sheet modeling is too simplistic to accurately predict future ice loss, and may underestimate contributions to sea level rise.
Scientists simulate the future distribution of 'supraglacial' lakes on Greenland's ice sheet, predicting they will migrate farther inland over the next half century. This could alter the ice sheet flow in dramatic ways, leading to increased melting and potential sea-level rise.
A massive study provides the first detailed look at how Greenland's ice is vanishing, revealing that current ice sheet modeling studies are too simplistic to accurately predict future changes. The research suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet may lose ice more rapidly in the near future than previously thought.
A study analyzing ancient polar ice cores reveals a significant increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide concentrations from 16,000 to 10,000 years ago. The rise was caused by changes in environmental conditions, contributing to the warming at the end of the ice age and melting of large ice sheets.
The NASA Operation IceBridge mission has completed its 2014 Antarctic campaign, building on previous studies to understand changes in ice conditions over time. Researchers collected data on sea ice, glaciers, and sub-ice water depth to inform projections of future Antarctic Ice Sheet changes.