As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions

When mountain permafrost thaws and glaciers melt, glacial lakes can become lethal flood risks for anyone downstream.

Alton C. Byers, Faculty Research Scientist, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
March 19, 2025 • ~10 min

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions − World Day for Glaciers carries a reminder

When mountain permafrost thaws and glaciers melt, glacial lakes can become lethal flood risks for anyone downstream.

Alton C. Byers, Faculty Research Scientist, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
March 19, 2025 • ~10 min

Glaciers have existed on Earth for at least 60 million years – far longer than previously thought

Scientists used satellites to map tens of thousands of glacial landforms in Antarctica’s highest mountains.

Matteo Spagnolo, Professor of Geography and the Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen • conversation
Dec. 15, 2022 • ~5 min

What’s going on with the Greenland ice sheet? It's losing ice faster than forecast and now irreversibly committed to at least 10 inches of sea level rise

A field glaciologist explains the changes scientists are now seeing.

Alun Hubbard, Professor of Glaciology, Arctic Five Chair, University of Tromsø • conversation
Aug. 29, 2022 • ~11 min

Scientists in Antarctica discover a vast, salty groundwater system under the ice sheet – with implications for sea level rise

Liquid water below the ice determines how fast an ice stream flows. As the ice sheet gets thinner, more of that salty groundwater could rise.

Chloe Gustafson, Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Geophysics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego • conversation
May 5, 2022 • ~9 min

In Antarctica, scientists discover a vast, salty groundwater system under the ice sheet – with implications for sea level rise

Liquid water below the ice determines how fast an ice stream flows. As the ice sheet gets thinner, more of that salty groundwater could rise.

Chloe Gustafson, Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Geophysics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego • conversation
May 5, 2022 • ~9 min

Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes beneath the surface as the climate warms

Ground is collapsing and massive lakes are draining in a matter of days. Thawing permafrost is having profound effects on the region and its infrastructure.

Mark J. Lara, Assistant Professor in Plant Biology & Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • conversation
April 12, 2022 • ~12 min

Mountain glaciers may hold less ice than previously thought – here’s what that means for 2 billion downstream water users and sea level rise

Glaciers in North America, Europe and the Andes, in particular, have significantly less ice than people realized.

Mathieu Morlighem, Professor of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College • conversation
Feb. 7, 2022 • ~8 min

Mountain glaciers hold less ice than previously thought – it's a concern for future water supplies but a drop in the bucket for sea level rise

Glaciers in North America, Europe and the Andes, in particular, have significantly less ice than people realized.

Mathieu Morlighem, Professor of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College • conversation
Feb. 7, 2022 • ~8 min

IPCC climate report: Profound changes are underway in Earth's oceans and ice – a lead author explains what the warnings mean

Some of the climate changes will be irreversible for millennia. But some can be slowed and even stopped if countries quickly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, including from burning fossil fuels.

Robert Kopp, Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Director, Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University • conversation
Aug. 9, 2021 • ~12 min

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