Breaches in glacial lake dams threaten millions around the world, and scientists are investigating how climate change might affect that risk.
glaciers & ice sheets
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Ice Cores Record Long-Ago Seasons in Antarctica
Researchers used ice core data to reconstruct seasonal temperatures throughout the Holocene. The results link especially hot summers with patterns in Earth’s orbit.
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“Icefin” Investigates a Glacial Underbelly
An instrument-laden submersible reveals where—and how rapidly—the Antarctic glacier is melting.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Artificial Lake-Level Lowering Alleviates Floods in the Himalayas
A new model combining future permafrost degradation and related avalanches demonstrates that artificial lake-lowering could significantly reduce the risk of glacial lake outburst floods.
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Lakes Can Change How Glaciers Move
Lakes forming from melted ice can have a big effect on their parent glacier, and more of these bodies of water are appearing under warming conditions.
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How Wine’s Origin Was Shaped by the Last Glacial Maximum
The harsh climate of the ice age influenced grapevine cultivation at the dawn of agriculture.
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The Bering Land Bridge Formed Much Later Than Previously Thought
New research reconstructs the Bering Strait’s flooding history, raising surprising questions about human migration and how ice sheets form.
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How Animals May Have Conquered Snowball Earth
We know there were animals during Earth’s chilliest era. The question is, What did they look like?
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Glacial Ice Offers Polar Bears a Precarious Climate Refuge
An isolated polar bear population in southeastern Greenland survives in fjords, despite spotty sea ice. But this pocket of bears is not a sign of how the species could be saved.
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Underwater Sounds Help Reveal Extent of Glacial Calving
If a glacier calves into the Arctic Ocean, does it make a sound? Some scientists say yes and have devised a clever way to use those sounds to calculate the size of the fallen ice chunks.