Nature Communications, 15 May 2026 Glaciers and snowpack currently help reduce water shortages for many downstream cities of Asia by supplying additional water during dry seasons. However, this relief is projected to sharply decline over coming decades. The number of urban residents facing water scarcity across the region could increase by 31-53% by 2050, depending […]

Communications Earth & Environment, 14 May 2026 River floods in the upper Indus basin are projected to become more frequent, intense, and unpredictable through 2100, with the frequency of critically high water levels at Pakistan’s Tarbela Dam expected to nearly triple by the end of the century. This study shows that although heavier rainfall will […]

NPJ Natural Hazards, 8 May 2026 Rapid warming increases permafrost thaw and the risk of dangerous floods, landslides, and collapsing mountain slopes in the western Himalaya, placing downstream communities and infrastructure at growing risk. The study found that rising temperatures are destabilizing high mountain terrain in India’s Kinnaur district and creating conditions that could trigger […]

Scientific Reports, 29 April 2026 Extreme weather events increasingly shape how Himalayan glaciers gain and lose ice from year to year. Chhota Shigri Glacier in the western Himalaya experienced its worst ice loss on record during 2022 after unusually intense spring and summer heatwaves affected mountain regions across the Northern Hemisphere, including the Himalaya, Alps, […]

Science, 6 May 2026 An August 2025 landslide in Tracy Arm fjord, Alaska, generated one of the largest tsunamis in recorded history, with water and debris reaching 481 meters up the opposite fjord wall and then surging through the valley. The failure occurred at the edge of South Sawyer Glacier, where long-term glacier retreat and […]

Environmental Research, 30 April 2026 Central Asia’s glaciers experienced their most severe mass loss year on record in 2025, with nearly 2% of the region’s total glacier volume disappearing. About two-thirds of large glaciers in the region (around 4,000 in total) experienced their worst year of ice loss since measurements began. This extreme melt was […]

Science Advances, 8 May 2026 Antarctic sea ice has remained at historically low levels since 2015, driven by shifts in Southern Ocean winds that pulled heat from the deep ocean to the surface and weakened the separation between ocean layers – adding to growing evidence that Antarctica may have entered a new era of reduced […]

Nature Communications, 7 May 2026 Relatively small and brief intrusions of warm water beneath Antarctic ice shelves can significantly increase melting by leaving long grooves on their underside, known as basal channels, leading to rapid melt from below. When slightly warmer Circumpolar Deep Water surrounding the continent flows into an otherwise cold ice shelf cavity, […]

Science, 14 May 2026 Rivers are dynamic and evolving. However, between 1980-2000 and 2000-2020, rates of change doubled for key rivers in the Himalayan uplands, sparking questions about the influence of climate change and a rapidly warming cryosphere. Satellite and field observations of over 1,000 river bends show that cryosphere loss is a significant driver […]

World Meteorological Organization, 29 April 2026 The 2025 European State of the Climate report describes rapid and continuing losses of snow and ice across Europe’s cold regions, especially the Arctic, Alps, and Greenland. All monitored European glacier regions recorded net mass loss in 2025, with Iceland experiencing its second-largest glacier loss on record, continuing a […]

The Cryosphere, 23 Apr 2026 Over the past four decades, Greece’s highest mountains have lost 58% of their snow cover, making this region’s snowpack one of the fastest disappearing in the world. Using a new high-resolution snow model based on satellite observations and climate data, researchers found widespread decline in snow cover from November through […]

Nature Communications, 2 May 2026 Scientists reconstructed the terrain beneath more than 200,000 glaciers worldwide using satellite observations, ice thickness measurements, and advanced glacier modeling, finding that over 50,000 new lakes could emerge as glaciers retreat. Together, these future lakes would store about 3,100 cubic kilometers of water – equivalent to roughly 7 millimeters of […]

Glaciers loss impacts sea-level rise, freshwater resources, tourism, and cultural sites. This event details the latest glacier projections and how our actions as a society, especially by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, can reduce the severity of these impacts. Speakers include Dr. Miriam Jackson, IPCC SROCC Lead Author and ICCI’s Europe and Himalaya Director; and Luis […]

ICIMOD, April 24, 2026 2026 marks the fourth consecutive year of below-average snow conditions in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, with regional snow levels falling 28% below average, surpassing last year’s record deficit of 24%. The Hindu Kush Himalaya relies heavily on snowpack and glaciers as a key freshwater source for over two billion people, with […]

Ocean Science, 20 Apr 2026 Global warming and increased freshwater input from melting ice are weakening the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), while initially strengthening the Nordic Overturning Circulation (NOC), which circulates water between the North Atlantic and Nordic Sea. This occurs because fresher, less dense water in the sub-polar North Atlantic weakens the AMOC […]