Greater Snow Drought Increasing the Vulnerability of Winter Wheat Yields

Nature Food, 6 February 2026 Winter wheat regions across the Northern Hemisphere have experienced a steady rise in snow drought, with frequency increasing around 5-6% per decade from 1960 to 2020. In addition, crop yield sensitivity to snowpack water levels has significantly increased across more than 25% of winter wheat croplands. These snow droughts reduce […]

Mountain Water Loss Threatens Downstream Supply for Billions

Nature Climate Change, 9 February 2026 This study addresses emerging and cascading changes facing global mountain ecosystems from glacier loss, highlighting the damaging impact of such loss on diverse socio-ecological sectors and adaptation needs. Mountains provide both surface water and groundwater critical for downstream regions, especially in dry and semi-arid regions where billions of people […]

COP30 Video of the Week: Pakistan’s Climate Future – Youth Voices for Action at COP30

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change, facing severe risks from floods, heatwaves, and water insecurity. It also has vibrant national, sub-national and civil society leaders, youth advocates, and policy experts working toward resilience and sustainability. This event brought together climate voices from Pakistan to share perspectives on adaptation, policy, and public engagement, while amplifying […]

AMOC Behavior During the Last Ice Age Supports Warnings of Future Weakening

Nature, 21 January 2026 New evidence confirms that the powerful North Atlantic system of ocean currents known as the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) kept running during the last Ice Age, despite extreme cold and extensive ice cover. Today’s models accurately predicted this past behavior, which strengthens indications these models also are on the right […]

Massive Projected Loss of Europe’s Largest Ice Cap with Continued High Emissions

The Cryosphere, 18 November 2025 Jostedalsbreen, the largest ice cap on mainland Europe, is projected to lose two-thirds of its current volume by 2100 under high emissions (SSP5-8.5), but this could be curbed to around 50% under medium emissions (SSP2-4.5). However, even with low emissions, this ice cap will probably split into three smaller ice […]

COP30 Video of the Week: Impacts of AMOC Shutdown

Observations and models suggest that the AMOC is slowing, with global implications for climate resilience and adaptation. This session brought together leading scientists and high-level government representatives to examine the emerging evidence on potential AMOC weakening, and its far-reaching implications for governments in the region in the face of predicted weather extremes, sea-level rise, and […]

Indonesia’s Last Glacier Ice Remained in 2024, But Faces Extinction by 2030

Cold Regions Science and Technology, 26 January 2026 A team of Indonesian researchers used over four decades of satellite imagery (1980–2024) to update the status of Asia’s last tropical glaciers, located in a highly inaccessible region of easternmost Indonesia. Ironically known as the “Eternity Glaciers,” ice area in this region has declined by 97% over […]

Permafrost Thaw and Wildfires Continue to Decrease the Remaining Carbon Budget

Communications Earth & Environment, 24 January 2026 Increasing permafrost thaw, including “abrupt” thaw events, together with wildfire carbon emissions are reducing global human carbon budgets. Including new data on both abrupt thaw and wildfire emissions will lower the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C by an additional 25%, and the 2.0°C budget by 17%, compared to […]

Increasing Methane Emissions From Northern Arctic Wetlands and Lakes

Nature Climate Change, 28 August 2025 Methane emissions from boreal-Arctic wetlands and lakes will increase by one third by 2100 with even moderate warming, with small and mid-sized peatland lakes the largest contributors. Rising temperatures and resulting permafrost thaw will drive this spike in methane released into the atmosphere, which occurs when thawing occurs under […]

Recent Thinning and Ice Loss from Alaskan Valley Glaciers

Nature Communications, 22 August 2025 The Kennicott and Root Glaciers, two of Alaska’s most accessible large valley glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, were mostly stable during the first half of the 20th century, but have been rapidly thinning since then, with Kennicott Glacier losing 1.43 meters per year this past decade compared to the […]

New ‘COP30’ Video: Governing the Cryosphere Beyond Political Timeframes

Cryosphere systems are nearing irreversible thresholds, yet political processes remain misaligned with the long timescales of ice loss. Using COP30 as context, this event explained how cryosphere science must inform and strengthen governance capable of linking near-term decisions with long-term stability in a rapidly changing world. Speakers included Dr. Letizia Tedesco, Finnish Environment Institute and […]

Comprehensive Assessment Maps Sea-level Rise Across Africa

Nature Communications, 15 December 2025 Sea-level rise along Africa’s coasts is now occurring four times faster than observed in the 1990s, with ice loss from Antarctica and Greenland now accounting for approximately 80% of the total rise. Highest rates of sea-level rise were observed in the Red Sea and Guinea Current regions. 2023 was particularly […]

Narrow Channels on Bottom of Antarctic Ice Shelves Amplify Melting

Nature Climate Change, 9 January 2026 Warm water draining and flowing beneath ice shelves carves channels into the ice, where intense localized melting occurs, with peak melt rates 42–50% higher than previously estimated. High-resolution satellite elevation data combined with radar measurements from 2010-2017 make it possible to map these channels as they deepen and shift. […]

Thawing Permafrost Directly Increases Wildfire Risk and Carbon Emissions

Nature Geoscience, 9 January 2026 As frozen permafrost thaws and the seasonally thawed layer deepens, summers become hotter and drier, vegetation and burnable soils increase, and wildfires grow larger and more intense across the Arctic and boreal (sub-Arctic) zones. Field observations paired with satellite data from 1997-2018 show that this thaw is a direct driver […]

Polar and Mountain Microbial Communities Depend on a Stable Cryosphere

Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5 November 2025 This review summarizes the harmful impacts of snow and ice loss on microbial communities uniquely adapted to thrive in these cold environments, posing downstream risks to food and income security, water availability, and human health. In the cryosphere, microbes grow in pools or streams of water across glacial, permafrost […]