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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Education is a vital lever for climate resilience. This side event presented lessons from five years of implementing the Ocean & Cryosphere manual co-developed by the Office for Climate Eduaction (OCE) with the IPCC, which has trained over 30,000 teachers and reached more than four million students. Experts share how science-based, inclusive education has helped […]

Nature Geoscience, 24 November 2025 The Prudhoe Dome ice cap in northern Greenland completely melted 7,000 years ago and was ice-free until a few thousand years ago, indicating that parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet disappeared when global mean temperatures were actually cooler than today (about 0.3°C cooler than the 2011-19 average, according to IPCC […]

Nature Communications, 5 December 2025 Very high emissions will trigger large-scale Antarctic ice sheet retreat over coming centuries, while net-zero emissions well before 2100 would strongly reduce multi-centennial ice loss. This study combines ice sheet models and accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty, grounding them in historical observations to more accurately estimate future sea-level rise […]