Glaciology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of snow, ice, and glaciers as physical systems within the cryosphere. It examines the formation, metamorphism, and rheology of ice, the mass balance and dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets, and their interactions with atmosphere, oceans, lithosphere, and climate. Glaciological research employs field observations, remote sensing, geophysical surveying, ice-core analysis, and numerical modeling to quantify processes such as ice flow, basal sliding, calving, and meltwater production. The field is central to understanding sea-level change, paleoclimate reconstruction, freshwater resources, and feedbacks in the global climate system.
Glaciers ending in lakes, oceans or ice shelves make up 3.2% of the world's glaciers, but lost 134 billion metric tons (148 billion tons) of ice each year between 2000 and 2019, accounting for more than half of all glacier ...
Earth Sciences
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The site of a former U.S. military base in Greenland was ice-free at a time when summers were a few degrees warmer than today, according to a new University at Buffalo–led study of ancient sediment recovered from beneath ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 20, 2026
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A new study led by researchers at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) reveals that glaciers worldwide could lose ice faster than previously projected. Published in Nature Communications, ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 19, 2026
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Mont Blanc's snowy crown has been measured at nearly 2 meters (6 feet) higher than in 2023, French surveyors announced Wednesday after an expedition that involved hauling instruments up Western Europe's highest mountain for ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 14, 2026
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A new ice sheet model developed by glaciologists at the University of California, Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory projects that the melting of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica will contribute up to 30 millimeters ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2026
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From an airplane, most of the glaciers of the Rocky Mountain West look like small patches of white nestled into the rugged landscape where the topography folds. The white is the snow cover, and lower down you can see the ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2026
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Seventy-three years ago, Tenzing Norgay stood on top of Everest, known as Chomolungma in Tibetan, which roughly translates as "Goddess Mother of the World."
Environment
Oct 9, 2026
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In high-latitude coastal areas, Arctic amplification means that temperatures are rising faster than the global average. This combination of rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns driven by the North Atlantic ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 8, 2026
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A region of Antarctica with some of the greatest potential to reshape the natural world and human society is also the least scientifically understood and explored.
Earth Sciences
Oct 4, 2026
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Switzerland's glaciers, which are disproportionately impacted by climate change, have lost nearly 20% of their mass in five years, experts said Thursday, with 2026 registering the second-biggest melt on record.
Environment
Oct 1, 2026
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