Yesterday, catastrophic flood swept down the Bhote Kosi river through Tibet and Nepal. At least 28 people have been killed. There is speculation that this might have been a GLOF. On 8 July 2025, a catastrophic mudslide / flood suddenly struck the Rasuwagadhi border crossing point between Tibet and Nepal, causing extensive damage. The Himalayan […]
glaciers & ice sheets
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Landslides during periods of glacial retreat in Alaska
An excellent new paper (Walden et al. 2025) examines the occurrence of accelerated movement in rock slope landslides in Alaska as adjacent glaciers melt. The exceptional temperatures in recent days in both North America and Europe has once again highlighted the rate at which the climate is changing in response to anthropogenic increases in greenhouse […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
A landslide on the Lakina River in Alaska
A recent Facebook post has highlighted a reasonably large slump landslide in a remote area of Alaska. Satellite images suggest that this occurred in late October or early November 2024. Loyal reader Andrew McNown kindly highlighted a recent Facebook post that provided some images of a landslide that has partially blocked the Lakina River in […]
Posted inEditors' Highlights
High Relief, Low Relief — Glaciers Do It All
Contrary to conventional wisdom that glaciers just carve landscapes, they can also form low-relief surfaces by sheltering rock from erosion, enriching understanding of how mountain landscapes evolve.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Rock Glacier Velocity: Monitoring Permafrost Amid Climate Change
The movement of unique landforms called “rock glaciers” give insight into how climate change is impacting permafrost in mountainous regions.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 28 May 2025 catastrophic failure of the Birch Glacier and the partial burial of Blatten
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. Over the course of the last few days, I have been blogging about the evolving situation on the slopes above Blatten in Switzerland. I documented that attention slowly transitioned from worries about […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 28 May 2025 update on the landslide threatening Blatten in Switzerland
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. Over the last 24 hours there have been further developments in the situation on the slopes above Blatten in Switzerland, with attention continuing to focus primarily on the Birch Glacier. Yesterday evening […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 26/27 May 2025 update on the landslide threatening Blatten in Switzerland
Smaller rockfalls have reduced the risk of a major rock slope collapse above Blatten, but attention has shifted to the Birch Glacier, which is now moving at 10 metres per day. The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognised as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. Over […]
Posted inNews
Newly Discovered Algae May Speed Melting of Antarctic Ice
Purple pigmentation in a diverse array of algae absorbs heat and creates a feedback loop responsible for 2% of total daily melting.
Posted inResearch & Developments
NOAA Halts Maintenance of Key Arctic Data at National Snow and Ice Data Center
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) may no longer actively maintain or update some of its snow and ice data products after losing support from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, according to a 6 May announcement.