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Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
Updated: 39 min 42 sec ago

New technique unlocks ancient history of Earth from grains of sand

Tue, 03/01/2022 - 12:11
Researchers have developed a new technique by studying the age of ancient grains of sand from beaches, rivers and rocks from around the world to reveal previously hidden details of the Earth's distant geological past.

Seismic study reveals key reason why Patagonia is rising as glaciers melt

Mon, 02/28/2022 - 08:11
Geologists have discovered a link between recent ice mass loss, rapid rock uplift and a gap between tectonic plates that underlie Patagonia.

Ancient DNA reveals surprises about how early Africans lived, traveled and interacted

Wed, 02/23/2022 - 10:12
A new analysis of human remains that were buried in African archaeological sites has produced the earliest DNA from the continent, telling a fascinating tale of how early humans lived, traveled and even found their significant others.

Monitoring Arctic permafrost with satellites, supercomputers, and deep learning

Tue, 02/22/2022 - 12:54
Using deep learning and supercomputers, researchers have been able to identify and map 1.2 billion ice wedge polygons in the Arctic permafrost based on satellite imagery. The data helps establish a baseline from which to detect changes to the region. The researchers trained a deep learning system to identify Arctic features and TACC's Longhorn supercomputer to analyze the data. The ice wedge data will be available for rapid analysis on the new Permafrost Discovery Gateway.

Accelerating melt rate makes Greenland Ice Sheet world’s largest ‘dam’

Mon, 02/21/2022 - 14:52
The world's second-largest ice sheet is melting from the bottom up -- and generating huge amounts of heat from hydropower.

The formation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was very different than previously believed

Mon, 02/21/2022 - 07:57
Roughly 35 million years ago, Earth cooled rapidly. At roughly the same time, the Drake Passage formed between South America and the Antarctic, paving the way for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Thanks to these two factors, Antarctica was soon completely covered in ice. This massive glaciation was delayed in at least one region.

Unexpected fish and squid found in the Central Arctic Ocean

Fri, 02/18/2022 - 14:30
Single individuals of Atlantic cod and squid occur much further north than previously expected. Scientists have found fish and squid in deep water in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

Sediment cores from ocean floor could contain 23-million-year-old climate change clues

Thu, 02/17/2022 - 12:19
Sediment cores taken from the Southern Ocean dating back 23 million years are providing insight into how ancient methane escaping from the seafloor could have led to regional or global climate and environmental changes, according to a new study.

'Blue Blob' near Iceland could slow glacial melting

Tue, 02/15/2022 - 12:46
A region of cooling water in the North Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, nicknamed the 'Blue Blob,' has likely slowed the melting of the island's glaciers since 2011 and may continue to stymie ice loss until about 2050, according to new research.

Driving conservation efforts with DNA data

Tue, 02/15/2022 - 11:55
An international team of conservation experts has revealed how ancient and historical DNA (a/hDNA), such as genetic data from specimens stored in natural history museums, can be used to assess population genetic patterns and processes that are relevant for endangered species.

Ending the debate: New research solves longstanding Antarctic climate change mystery

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 17:33
New research definitively resolves a long-standing discrepancy in the geologic record that pitted studies of marine ice-sheet behavior against those that reconstructed past conditions on land. The research lends additional weight to evidence that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is sensitive to small changes in carbon dioxide levels and that, in the past, large portions of the ice sheet could have disappeared under carbon dioxide levels similar to today.

Tilting of Earth’s crust governed the flow of ancient megafloods

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 14:48
As ice sheets began melting at the end of the last ice age, a series of cataclysmic floods called the Missoula megafloods scoured the landscape of eastern Washington, carving long, deep channels and towering cliffs through an area now known as the Channeled Scablands. They were among the largest known floods in Earth's history, and geologists struggling to reconstruct them have now identified a crucial factor governing their flows. A new study shows how the changing weight of the ice sheets would have caused the entire landscape to tilt, changing the course of the megafloods.

How climate change is destroying Arctic coasts

Mon, 02/14/2022 - 10:17
Global warming is causing permafrost in the Arctic to thaw and sea ice to melt. As a result, coasts are less protected and are being eroded, while carbon stored in the soil and carbon dioxide are being released into the ocean and atmosphere. In a first, researchers have now calculated the future scale of these processes for the entire Arctic. Their conclusion: each degree of warming accelerates them considerably.

Seawater seep may be speeding glacier melt, sea level rise

Thu, 02/10/2022 - 14:41
A new study projects that warm seawater seeping under certain glaciers could eventually lead to future sea level rise that's double that of existing estimates.

New technique will improve the construction of ice roads and bridges

Thu, 02/10/2022 - 07:49
A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar pulse to travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again can reveal the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe to travel on ice roads and bridges in Arctic regions.

Antarctic research reveals link between warming and fish abundance

Tue, 02/08/2022 - 18:17
A long-term study in the Southern Ocean reveals a clear correlation between warming waters, decreased sea ice, and reduced abundance of Antarctic silverfish. These small, abundant fish are important prey for penguins, seals, and other regional marine life, in a role similar to that played by anchovies or sardines in more temperate waters.

Giant sponge gardens discovered on seamounts in the Arctic deep sea

Tue, 02/08/2022 - 10:39
Massive sponge gardens thrive on top of seamounts in the Central Arctic Ocean, one of the most oligotrophic seas on Earth. They appear to feed on the remnants of an extinct fauna. Microorganisms support the sponges in exploiting this fluffy material as a source of food and energy.

New radar technology records Antarctic glaciers losing ice faster than ever documented before

Mon, 02/07/2022 - 14:56
Unprecedented mass loss from three Antarctic glaciers could signal global climate trouble ahead, a researcher warns. A multinational collaboration is using an advanced remote imaging system to document the Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers with clarity and completeness never achieved before.

Globe’s glaciers have less ice than previously thought

Mon, 02/07/2022 - 10:26
Research revises estimates of glacial ice volume, suggesting that there is less ice in the world's glaciers than previously thought. The findings have implications on freshwater and global sea level rise.

Deep insights into the Arctic of tomorrow

Mon, 02/07/2022 - 07:35
Hundreds of international researchers are currently analyzing observations from the one-year MOSAiC expedition, during which hundreds of environmental parameters were recorded with unprecedented accuracy and frequency over a full annual cycle in the Central Arctic Ocean.

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