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.
Greenland is melting, the Alps are melting and the Himalayas are melting—yet in one vast mountain region, huge glaciers have remained stable, or even gained mass, in recent decades. Can it last?
Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2025
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Glaciers are fighting back against climate change by cooling the air that touches their surfaces. But for how long? The Pellicciotti group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) has compiled and re-analyzed ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 10, 2025
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Switzerland's glaciers, which are disproportionately impacted by climate change, have lost a quarter of their volume in the past decade alone, a study warned Wednesday, heightening concerns over accelerating melting.
Environment
Oct 1, 2025
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On May 12, 2025, Buddha Day, Buddhist monks and scientific researchers gathered to pay tribute to Yala Glacier in Nepal's Langtang Valley. The International Center for Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an international NGO housed ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 19, 2025
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Earlier in 2025, UNSW Sydney Ph.D. candidate Christina Schmidt submitted her thesis—from the deck of Australia's multi-billion-dollar icebreaker, just off the East Antarctic coast.
Earth Sciences
Sep 19, 2025
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With the end of summer approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, the extent of sea ice in the Arctic shrank to its annual minimum on Sept. 10, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The total sea ice coverage ...
Environment
Sep 18, 2025
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The Polarstern recently ended a two-month expedition in the central Arctic in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The international and interdisciplinary research team, led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, focused on the summer melting ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 9, 2025
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Too little snowfall is now also shaking the foundations of some of the world's most resilient "water towers," a new study led by the Pellicciotti group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) shows. After ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 2, 2025
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Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago that is technically a part of Norway, lies about halfway between the northernmost part of Norway and the North Pole. Currently, about 60% of Svalbard's surface is covered in glaciers, but these ...
USGS streamgages show flood conditions are now underway, with live cameras providing real-time views on the USGS HIVIS website. Glacier-caused flooding has become an annual threat since 2011, with record-breaking floods over ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 14, 2025
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