The Elephant

The climate change and environmental emergency: a comprehensive resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens

Topic: Ice Melting


Featured Articles:

Tipping Points Report shows humanity on ‘disastrous trajectory’ - The Engineer

  2023-12-06 by The Engineer in The Engineer

Humanity is on the verge of triggering at least five major tipping points which could see the collapse of ice sheets, ecosystems and food production, according to a new report.

  Tagged under: Agriculture | Ice Melting | Tipping Points | Collapse


Related Articles (72)

Mathematicians crack a sea ice puzzle that advances what we know about global warming

  2024-08-29 (or before) in nationaltribune.com.au

A new applied mathematical theory could enhance our ability to predict how sea ice affects polar climate changes. A new paper published in Proceedings

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Global Warming | Predictions | Climate Change


Earth's Sea Ice Radiative Effect From 1980 to 2023

  2024-07-19 (or before) in Advancing Earth and Space Sciences Journal

We quantify the top-of-atmosphere radiative effect of global sea ice with historical surface albedo, sea ice, and cloud data sets The Arctic sea ice radiative effect has weakened at 0.04–0.05 W m...

  Tagged under: Earth Energy Imbalance | Ice Melting | Albedo


Arctic News: Arctic Sea Ice Alert

  2024-06-20 (or before) in Arctic News

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Arctic


Melt rate of Greenland ice sheet can predict summer weather in Europe, scientist says

  2024-03-14 in The Guardian

Location, extent and strength of recent freshwater events suggest an unusually warm and dry summer over southern Europe this year

  Tagged under: Europe | Science | Climate Data | Greenland | Ice Melting


There are growing fears of an alarming shift in Antarctic sea ice | New Scientist

  2024-03-11 in New Scientist

Antarctic sea ice cover remains far below average levels for the third year in a row, but researchers are uncertain whether this is a permanent shift driven by climate change or part of natural fluctuations

  Tagged under: Sea Level | Ice Melting | Antarctic


Strong increase in thawing of subsea permafrost in the 22nd century caused by anthropogenic climate change

  2024-03-10 (or before) in TC - Recent

Abstract. Most earth system models (ESMs) neglect climate feedbacks arising from carbon release from thawing permafrost, especially from thawing of subsea permafrost (SSPF). To assess the fate of SSPF in the next 1000 years, we implemented SSPF into JSBACH, the land component of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM). This is the first implementation of SSPF processes in an ESM component. We investigate three extended scenarios from the 6th phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). In the 21st century only small differences are found among the scenarios, but in the upper-end emission scenari...

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Climate Change Impacts | Permafrost


Radical idea to protect 'doomsday' Thwaites Glacier with 62-mile long curtain divides scientists

  2024-03-06 in Sky News

The drastic idea has been praised by some scientists as "highly aspirational", while others have branded it "dangerous, illusionary and distracting".

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Antarctic | Geoengineering


Higher temperatures force New England fishers off ice early: ‘Global warming is real’

  2024-03-06 in The Guardian

For generations, residents have hauled tiny fishing shacks on to frozen lakes, but milder winters are forcing them to quit early

  Tagged under: Fish | Climate Change Impacts | Ice Melting | USA | Fishing


Ice-free summers in Arctic possible within next decade, scientists say

  2024-03-05 in The Guardian

Home of polar bears, seals and walruses could be mostly water for months as early as 2035 due to fossil fuel emissions

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Arctic


The US Buried Nuclear Waste Abroad. Climate Change Could Unearth It

  2024-03-02 in WIRED Magazine

A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from US nuclear projects in Greenland and the Marshall Islands.

  Tagged under: Pollution | Sea Level | Greenland | Ice Melting | Nuclear Power


Ski resorts’ era of plentiful snow may be over due to climate crisis, study finds

  2024-03-02 in The Guardian

US ski industry is losing billions as average season has become five to seven days shorter in past half century

  Tagged under: USA | Climate Change Impacts | Ice Melting


Pumped up: will a Dutch startup’s plan to restore Arctic sea-ice work?

  2024-02-27 in The Guardian

As the Arctic warms, devastating the climate and ecosystems, an old idea used to create skating rinks could be deployed to restore melting ice caps, despite scepticism from some experts

  Tagged under: Geoengineering | Ice Melting | Arctic | Oceans


Climate change: 'Ice bumps' reveal history of Antarctic melting

  2024-02-27 in The BBC

Satellites reveal a 50-year record of climate change by tracing the lumpiness in ice surfaces.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Antarctic


Scientists drilled an ice core from Antarctica and were alarmed by what they found | CNN

  2024-02-08 by in CNN International

Evidence from a 2,000-foot-long ice core shows rapid past melting — a stark warning for potential sea level rise as temperatures soar

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level | Collapse | Antarctic


Antarctica Under Siege and XR Takes a Radical Turn

  2024-01-05 by in Counter Punch

Antarctica has finally succumbed to rapid climate change. This past year (2023) brought changes to the icy continent that left climate scientists feeling

  Tagged under: Activism | Ice Melting | Climate Change | Antarctic | Extinction Rebellion


Tipping Points Report shows humanity on ‘disastrous trajectory’ - The Engineer

  2023-12-06 by The Engineer in The Engineer

Humanity is on the verge of triggering at least five major tipping points which could see the collapse of ice sheets, ecosystems and food production, according to a new report.

  Tagged under: Agriculture | Ice Melting | Tipping Points | Collapse


Compare & Animate | National Snow and Ice Data Center

  2023-10-23 (or before) in National Snow and Ice Data Center

Use the interactive tools below to compare sea ice trends and anomalies and to animate monthly extent, concentrations, anomalies, and trends.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Greenland’s massive ice sheet is melting — here’s how to save it

  2023-10-18 in Nature

The ice sheet could experience runaway melting if the world overshoots climate targets, but even then quick action could stabilize it. The ice sheet could experience runaway melting if the world overshoots climate targets, but even then quick action could stabilize it.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Climate action must respond to extreme weather driving health crisis, says WHO

  2023-09-19 in The Guardian

Melting ice caps and rising sea levels are urgent but people care more about the floods, wildfires and droughts that are here now, New York summit hears

  Tagged under: COP28 | Libya | Drought | Africa | Ice Melting | Sea Level | Health | Middle East | Wildfires


Antarctic sea-ice at 'mind-blowing' low alarms experts - BBC News

  2023-09-17 (or before) in The BBC

Missing winter sea ice signals changes that could be a "disaster for the world", scientists say.

  Tagged under: Antarctic | Ice Melting


Aerosol geoengineering will not stop Antarctic ice sheet from melting, simulations suggest – Physics World

  2023-08-31 in Home – Physics World

Emissions reduction is the only way to avoid catastrophic sea-level rise

  Tagged under: Antarctic | Geoengineering | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Revisiting the global hydrological cycle: is it intensifying?

  2023-08-15 (or before) in HESS - Recent

Abstract. As a result of technological advances in monitoring atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and biosphere, as well as in data management and processing, several databases have become freely available. These can be exploited in revisiting the global hydrological cycle with the aim, on the one hand, to better quantify it and, on the other hand, to test the established climatological hypotheses according to which the hydrological cycle should be intensifying because of global warming. By processing the information from gridded ground observations, satellite data and reanalyses, it turns out that the established hypotheses are...

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level | Electricity Grid


'Big-time bad news': what a secret Cold War project could tell us about the fate of Greenland's ice sheet

  2023-07-21 (or before) in ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

  Tagged under: Nuclear Power | Climate Change | Ice Melting


An earth system model shows self-sustained thawing of permafrost even if all man-made GHG emissions stop in 2020 - Scientific Reports

  2023-07-03 (or before) in Nature

The risk of points-of-no-return, which, once surpassed lock the world into new dynamics, have been discussed for decades. Recently, there have been warnings that some of these tipping points are coming closer and are too dangerous to be disregarded. In this paper we report that in the ESCIMO climate model the world is already past a point-of-no-return for global warming. In ESCIMO we observe self-sustained thawing of the permafrost for hundreds of years, even if global society stops all emissions of man-made GHGs immediately. We encourage other model builders to explore our discovery in their (bigger) models, and report on their...

  Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Arctic | Albedo | Ice Melting | Tipping Points


Himalayan glacier loss speeding up with dire outcome for millions

  2023-06-20 (or before) in YouTube

New research shows glaciers in the Hindu Kush Mountain range in the Himalayas could lose 75% of its ice by the end of the century. The report shows melting i...

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Glaciers | Ice Melting


New Ice Discovery Means Glaciers Could Melt Way Faster Than Predicted

  2023-05-09 by in ScienceAlert

A closer look at the junction where a Greenland glacier crunches into the ocean floor, known as its grounding line, has revealed less stability amid the shifting of tides – and therefore a greater rate of melting – than previously estimated thanks...

  Tagged under: Oceans | Predictions | Ice Melting


UCI, NASA JPL researchers discover a cause of rapid ice melting in Greenland

  2023-05-08 in UCI News – Releases, features, advisories, briefs and coverage regarding UC Irvine

Study suggests extent of future sea level rise could be vastly underestimated

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level


Antarctic ocean currents heading for collapse - report - BBC News

  2023-03-30 (or before) in The BBC

Melting ice could trigger a disastrous chain reaction, a new Australian study warns

  Tagged under: Oceans | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Collapse


Greenland temperatures surge up to 50 degrees above normal, setting records - The Washington Post

  2023-03-07 in The Washington Post

The record-breaking warmth is raising concerns about melting summer ice.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Brunt Ice Shelf: Giant iceberg breaks away from Antarctic ice shelf

  2023-01-23 in Sky News

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the calving happened a decade after scientists first detected the growth of vast cracks in the ice. They relocated the Halley research station 23km inland in 2016 after what they called Chasm One began to widen.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Antarctic


Extensive melting in West Antarctica and the Peninsula | Greenland/Antarctica Ice Sheet Today

  2023-01-14 (or before) in National Snow and Ice Data Center

  Tagged under: Antarctic | Ice Melting


Greenland's glaciers are melting 100 times faster than estimated

  2022-12-19 in Live Science

Scientists are getting a better handle on how fast Greenland's ice is flowing out to sea. Old models that used Antarctica as a baseline were way off the mark.

  Tagged under: Antarctic | Ice Melting


World faces ‘terminal’ loss of Arctic sea ice during summers, report warns

  2022-11-07 in The Guardian

The dramatic vanishing of polar ice sheets will cause catastrophic sea level rise that will threaten cities, according to a major new study

  Tagged under: Arctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Arctic sea ice loss to increase strong El Niño events linked to extreme weather: Study

  2022-10-24 in Mongabay

As Arctic sea ice begins melting out fully in summer, the frequency of strong El Niños could increase by 35% by century's end, causing extreme weather events to increase, says recent modeling study.

  Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Arctic | Ice Melting | El Niño


Next pandemic may come from melting glaciers, new data shows

  2022-10-18 in The Guardian

Analysis of Arctic lake suggests viruses and bacteria locked in ice could reawaken and infect wildlife

  Tagged under: Arctic | Wildlife | Ice Melting


Glaciers in the Alps are melting faster than ever – and 2022 was their worst summer yet

  2022-10-18 by in The Conversation

Switzerland’s glaciers just lost 6% of their ice in a single year.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Arctic System Collapse? Devastating new research.

  2022-09-19 (or before) in YouTube

The arctic region is a key driver of global climate patterns. In the summer of 2022, three peer reviewed research papers were published, all of which showed ...

  Tagged under: Arctic | Climate Change | Ice Melting | Sea Level | Collapse


Late Season Melting in Greenland

  2022-09-14 (or before) in NASA Earth Observatory

Some scientists think the widespread late-season melting could have implications for the ice sheet’s near future.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


“Zombie Ice”: Greenland’s Melting Glacier to Raise Sea Levels Nearly 1 Foot, Double Previous Estimate

  2022-09-04 (or before) in Democracy Now!

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level


Major sea-level rise caused by melting of Greenland ice cap is ‘now inevitable’

  2022-08-29 in The Guardian

Loss will contribute a minimum rise of 27cm regardless of what climate action is taken, scientists discover

  Tagged under: Oceans | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Antarctica's ice shelves could be melting faster than we thought

  2022-08-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

A new model developed by Caltech and JPL researchers suggests that Antarctica's ice shelves may be melting at an accelerated rate, which could eventually contribute to more rapid sea level rise. The model accounts for an often-overlooked narrow ocean current along the Antarctic coast and simulates how rapidly flowing freshwater, melted from the ice shelves, can trap dense warm ocean water at the base of the ice, causing it to warm and melt even more.

  Tagged under: Oceans | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Unprecedented die-offs, melting ice: Climate change is wreaking havoc in the Arctic and beyond

  2022-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

Forces profound and alarming are reshaping the upper reaches of the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, breaking the food chain that supports billions of creatures and one of the world's most important fisheries.

  Tagged under: Oceans | Arctic | Climate Change | Fish | Ice Melting


Greenland's ice sheet is melting so fast, it's raising sea levels and creating global flood risk

  2021-11-04 (or before) in USA Today

The second-largest ice sheet in the world has lost 3.5 trillion tons of ice in the past decade, and more could be in store by the end of the century.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level


Antarctica's ice sheet is melting 3 times faster than before | AP News

  2021-10-19 (or before) in Associated Press News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The melting of Antarctica is accelerating at an alarming rate, with about 3 trillion tons of ice disappearing since 1992, an international team of ice experts said in a new study...

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Antarctic | Ice Melting


Sea level rise matches worst-case scenario

  2021-10-19 (or before) by in University of Leeds

Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica whose melting rates are rapidly increasing have raised the global sea level by 1.8 cm since the 1990s, and are matching the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s worst-case climate warming scenarios.

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Heat stored in the Earth system: where does the energy go?

  2021-08-08 (or before) in Earth System Science Data

<p><strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Human-induced atmospheric composition changes cause a radiative imbalance at the top of the atmosphere which is driving global warming. This Earth energy imbalance (EEI) is the most critical number defining the prospects for continued global warming and climate change. Understanding the heat gain of the Earth system – and particularly how much and where the heat is distributed – is fundamental to understanding how this affects warming ocean, atmosphere and land; rising surface temperature; sea level; and loss of grounded and floating i...

  Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Earth Energy Imbalance | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Inside the race to rescue clues to Earth’s past from melting glaciers

  2021-06-23 (or before) by in New Scientist

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Ice Melting


‘Birthplace of Ice’ in Russia’s Arctic Sees Record-Breaking Start to Melting Season - The Moscow Times

  2021-06-02 by in The Moscow Times

The Laptev Sea plays a crucial role in generating ice coverage for the entire Arctic.

  Tagged under: Arctic | Climate Change | Ice Melting | Russia


Snow chaos in Europe caused by melting sea-ice in the Arctic

  2021-04-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

They are diligently stoking thousands of bonfires on the ground close to their crops, but the French winemakers are fighting a losing battle. An above-average warm spell at the end of March has been followed by days of extreme frost, destroying the vines with losses amounting to 90 percent above average. The image of the struggle may well be the most depressingly beautiful illustration of the complexities and unpredictability of global climate warming. It is also an agricultural disaster from Bordeaux to Champagne.

  Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Arctic | Ice Melting | France


Greenland ice loss may have begun as early as the mid-'80s

  2021-03-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

The amount of snow falling on Greenland's glaciers may have been less than the water lost through icebergs calving and melting since at least the mid-1980s, a study of almost 40 years of satellite images has revealed.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Global Ice Loss on Pace to Drive Worst-Case Sea Level Rise - Inside Climate News

  2021-01-26 in Inside Climate News

From the polar caps to the glaciers of Europe, Asia and South America, global warming is melting the planet’s ice faster than ever and speeding the inundation of the world’s coastlines. New research shows the annual melt rate grew from 0.8 trillion tons in the 1990s to 1.3 trillion tons by 2017, and has accelerated […]

  Tagged under: Global Warming | Ice Melting | Sea Level


New climate models suggest faster melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet - Carbon Brief

  2020-12-15 in Carbon Brief

Greenland’s vast ice sheet could melt faster than previously thought over the 21st century, according to a new study.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Climate change: Greenland's ice faces melting 'death sentence' - BBC News

  2020-11-04 (or before) in BBC

The massive ice sheet covering Greenland may have melted by a record amount this year, scientists say.

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Ice Melting


The Arctic is in a death spiral. How much longer will it exist?

  2020-10-26 (or before) in The Guardian

The region is unravelling faster than anyone could once have predicted. But there may still be time to act

  Tagged under: Arctic | Predictions | Climate Change | Ice Melting


Ice Sheet Melting Is Perfectly in Line With Our Worst-Case Scenario, Scientists Warn

  2020-09-09 (or before) by in ScienceAlert

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold enough frozen water to lift oceans 65 metres, are tracking the UN's worst-case scenarios for sea level rise, researchers said Monday, highlighting flaws in current climate change models.

  Tagged under: Oceans | IPCC | Climate Change | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Pools of Water Atop Sea Ice in the Arctic May Lead it to Melt Away Sooner Than Expected - Inside Climate News

  2020-08-11 in Inside Climate News

The thickening atmospheric stew of greenhouse gases is punching holes in Arctic sea ice, leading it to crumble at a rapidly increasing rate. Last spring, ponds of meltwater on the ice sped the melting of the glossy shield that reflects incoming heat from the sun back to space. By July, the ice had dwindled to […]

  Tagged under: Arctic | Greenhouse Gases | Ice Melting


Most polar bears to disappear by 2100, study predicts

  2020-07-20 in The Guardian

Melting Arctic sea ice could cause starvation and reproductive failure for many as early as 2040, scientists warn

  Tagged under: Arctic | Greenhouse Gases | Predictions | Wildlife | Ice Melting | Russia | Alaska


Scientists confirm dramatic melting of Greenland ice sheet

  2020-04-15 in The Guardian

Study reveals loss largely due to high pressure zone not taken into account by climate models

  Tagged under: Arctic | Ice Melting


Greenland And Antarctica Are Melting Six Times Faster Than In The 1990s

  2020-03-31 (or before) by in Forbes

This month, a comprehensive assessment of the changing ice sheets published in the journal Nature, found that in the 2010s, the rate of ice loss has risen by a factor six.

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


Antarctica's doomsday glacier is melting. Can we save it in time?

  2020-01-28 (or before) by in New Scientist

  Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level


In Greenland’s Melting Ice, A Warning on Hard Climate Choices

  2020-01-25 (or before) in Yale E360

Greenland is melting at an unprecedented rate, causing vast quantities of ice to disappear and global sea levels to rise. The fate of the ice sheet is not sealed, but unless CO2 emissions are sharply cut, the long-term existence of Greenland’s ice is in doubt.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Sea Level


Greenland's ice sheet melting seven times faster than in 1990s

  2019-12-10 by Fiona Harvey in The Guardian

Scale and speed of loss much higher than predicted, threatening inundation for hundreds of millions of people

  Tagged under: Oceans | Predictions | Science | Glaciers | Global Warming | Ice Melting | Greenland | Climate Change | Sea Level


Russia's Taymyr plan: Arctic coal for India risks pollution - BBC News

  2019-11-30 (or before) in BBC

A huge wildlife haven is at risk as Russian coal ships exploit melting Arctic ice in Siberia.

  Tagged under: India | Arctic | Coal | Wildlife | Ice Melting | Russia


Interior Alaska is too warm for North Pole’s annual Christmas ice park

  2019-11-21 in Anchorage Daily News: Alaska News, Politics, Outdoors, Science and Events

Officials canceled the event for the first time in 14 years, citing lack of ice on ponds to harvest for ice carving.

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | Alaska


With Greenland's Extreme Melting, a New Risk Grows: Ice Slabs That Worsen Runoff - Inside Climate News

  2019-09-18 in Inside Climate News

Scientists have added a new item to the long list of Greenland Ice Sheet woes. Along with snow-darkening algae and increasing rainfall, giant slabs of ice have been thickening and spreading under the Greenland snow at an average rate of two football fields per minute since 2001, new research shows. The slabs prevent surface meltwater […]

  Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Extreme Rainfall | Climate Change | Ice Melting | Sea Level


The Antarctic ice sheet is melting and, yeah, it&#8217;s probably our fault.

  2019-08-14 in RealClimate

Glaciers in West Antarctica have thinned and accelerated in the last few decades.&nbsp;&nbsp;A new paper provides some of the first evidence that this is due to human activities. by Eric Steig It’s been some time since I wrote anything for RealClimate. In the interim there’s been a lot of important new work in the area of my primary research interest – Antarctica. Much of it is aimed at addressing the central ...

  Tagged under: Antarctic | Ice Melting


'Ecological grief': Greenland residents traumatised by climate emergency

  2019-08-12 by Dan McDougall in The Guardian

Islanders are struggling to reconcile impact of global heating with traditional way of life, survey finds

  Tagged under: Arctic | Ice Melting | Global Warming | Greenland | Climate Anxiety and Grief | Climate Change


Greenland Is Melting Away Before Our Eyes

  2019-07-31 by in Rolling Stone - Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage

“I have my fingers crossed for it not being washed away”

  Tagged under: Ice Melting


Research Highlight: Loss of Arctic's Reflective Sea Ice Will Advance Global Warming by 25 Years

  2019-07-19 in Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Losing the remaining Arctic sea ice and its ability to reflect incoming solar energy back to space would be equivalent to adding one trillion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, on top of the 2.4 trillion tons emitted since the Industrial Age, according to current and former researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.

  Tagged under: Oceans | Solar Energy | Ice Melting | Global Warming | Arctic


Himalayan glacier melting doubled since 2000, spy satellites show

  2019-06-19 in The Guardian

Ice losses indicate ‘devastating’ future for region and 1 billion people who depend on it for water

  Tagged under: Ice Melting | India


Emissions from thawing Arctic permafrost may be 12 times higher than thought, scientists say

  2019-04-17 in The Independent

‘This needs to be taken more seriously than it is right now,’ says author of new study

  Tagged under: Global Warming | Arctic | Alaska | Feedback Loops | Ice Melting | Methane | Permafrost | Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change


Greenland’s Melting Ice Nears a ‘Tipping Point,’ Scientists Say (Published 2019)

  2019-01-21 in The New York Times

  Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Arctic | Ice Melting


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