Science, June 10 In February 2021, a catastrophic flood caused widespread loss and damage in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India. A new study, co-authored by more than 50 scientists, shows that 27 million m3 of material – 11X the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza – consisting of rocks and ice avalanched down the valley, 1800 […]

The Cryosphere, June 15 This study used the new climate models prepared for IPCC AR6 to compare Alps glacier ice loss at 1°C, 1.5°C and 2°C of warming above pre-industrial, and found stark differences with each half a degree increase. By 2100, at 2°C glaciers in the European Alps are projected to lose more than […]

Earth System Dynamics, June 3 The Greenland Ice Sheet, West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Amazon rainforest, and the largest ocean circulation systems can undergo large and potentially irreversible changes once human-caused or natural factors cause certain critical temperatures to be exceeded. These so-called tipping points risk affecting the stability of the entire climate system, and that […]

The Cryosphere, June 4 Between 2002 and 2018, sea ice in the Arctic thinned 60 percent more than previously estimated. In particular, the coastal area of the Chukchi Seas, just above Alaska and the Kamchatka Peninsula, thinned over twice as much as past calculations have shown. Sea ice extent, or area can easily be measured […]

Nature Communications, June 8 Although most ice loss from Greenland comes from either surface melting, or icebergs breaking from outlet glaciers; a significant amount apparently is coming from melting occurring at the very bottom of the ice sheet, where it rests against bedrock. Some of this so-called “basal melting” occurs due to heat from geo-thermal […]

Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth’s Surface, April 23 More than 80% of studies reporting on permafrost area overestimate the baseline extent of permafrost underneath Earth’s surface, claiming that permafrost underlies a quarter (22%) of the Northern Hemisphere. Such overstatements give the impression that there is 6 million km2 more permafrost than currently estimated. In reality, […]

The Cryosphere, May 31 The presence of infrastructure built on permafrost ground in the Arctic causes increased snow accumulation, and then ponding and standing water when the snow melts. This increases regional soil temperatures, deepening permafrost thaw; and puts infrastructure at risk of failure. Under strong future warming and high-emission scenarios, gravel roads such as […]

Some of the earliest temperatures above 30°C ever observed in this part of the Arctic have been measured in recent weeks, with the town Nizhnyaya Pesha just above the Arctic Circle reaching 30.5°C on May 19, and the city of Nar’Jan-Mar at 67.6°N reaching 31.7°C (nearly 90°F) on May 20. While this region is known […]

Journal of Climate, May 18 A negative feedback mechanism related to new, but very thin sea ice formation appears to stimulate the rapid re-growth of sea ice during the winter in portions of the Arctic eastward from the Laptev to Beaufort Seas (approximately over the eastern half of Siberian Russia). However, in the Barents and […]

Nature Geoscience, May 24 The Greenland Ice Sheet releases relatively high concentrations of mercury in its runoff, sending large amounts of this heavy metal downstream into neighboring fjords. Dissolved mercury from the southwestern region of Greenland accounts for an observed 10% increase in mercury in Arctic waterways. The mercury is believed to come from the […]

PNAS, May 17 Unlike Antarctica with its protective ice shelves, the stability of Greenland’s ice sheet depends on its sheer altitude: three kilometers high at some points, the temperature at the “top” of the ice sheet rarely falls below freezing, even in summer. However, as the ice sheet loses mass, its altitude lowers, exposing more […]

Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Arctic Council, May 20 In its new climate report, the Arctic Council’s science working group, AMAP, detailed in its report to the May 20 Council Ministerial meeting that over the past 50 years, Arctic annual mean surface temperature increased by 3.1°C. This is three times higher than the […]

Nature Communications, May 17 Glaciers in the greater Himalayan region (sometimes called High Mountain Asia) are the most vulnerable worldwide to climatic, societal and environmental changes. This study investigates the health of 5527 glaciers in the region for 2000-2016. Findings show that even in a fictional scenario without additional warming, these glaciers would lose 23% […]

Nature Communications, May 11 Carbon emissions from thawed permafrost are known to continue for 150-200 years after initial thaw, even with refreezing; but this modeling study found that permafrost ecosystems and “legacy” emissions may not stabilize for several hundred years after carbon neutrality is reached. The study found that the long-term effects of overshoot on […]

Nature Communications, May 11 The loss of Antarctica’s buttressing ice shelves and glacier retreat due to global warming will expose immense unstable ice cliffs resting on deep ocean. These cliffs are susceptible to structural failure and will contribute to accelerated ice loss, through a process known as Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI). As coverage of […]