Climate change is putting an enormous strain on global water resources, and according to researchers, the Tibetan Plateau is suffering from a water imbalance so extreme that it could lead to an increase in international conflicts.
Tag: Glaciers
In sediments below Antarctic ice, scientists discover a giant groundwater system
Many scientists say that liquid water is a key to understanding the behavior of the frozen form found in glaciers.
Direct measurement of optical properties of glacier ice using a photon-counting diffuse LiDAR
Physicists from the University of Oregon’s Oregon Center for Optical Molecular and Quantum Science along with glaciologists from the Department of Geography as well as the Oregon Glacier Institute spent the last year developing a new measurement technique to investigate…
Russian Arctic Losing Billions of Tons of Ice as Climate Warms
Glaciers and ice caps in two archipelagos in the Russian Arctic are losing enough meltwater to fill nearly five million Olympic-size swimming pools each year, research shows.
RESEARCHERS FIND GREENLAND GLACIAL MELTWATERS RICH IN MERCURY
New research from Florida State University shows that concentrations of the toxic element mercury in rivers and fjords connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to rivers in industrial China, an unexpected finding that is raising questions about the effects of glacial melting in an area that is a major exporter of seafood.

Global warming found to be culprit for flood risk in Peruvian Andes, other glacial lakes
Human-caused warming is responsible for increasing the risk of a glacial outburst flood from Peru’s Lake Palcacocha, threatening the city below. This study is the first to directly link climate change with the risk of flooding from glacial lakes, which are growing in number and size worldwide.

Increasing ocean temperature threatens Greenland’s ice sheet
Irvine, Calif., Jan. 25, 2021 — Scientists at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have for the first time quantified how warming coastal waters are impacting individual glaciers in Greenland’s fjords. Their work is the subject of a study published recently in Science Advances. Working under the auspices of the Oceans Melting Greenland mission for the past five years, the researchers used ships and aircraft to survey 226 glaciers in all sectors of one of Earth’s largest islands.

Warming Greenland ice sheet passes point of no return
Nearly 40 years of satellite data from Greenland shows that glaciers on the island have shrunk so much that even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking.
Global glacier melt raises sea levels and depletes once-reliable water source
Irvine, Calif., June 1, 2020 – The melting of glaciers and ice caps in places as diverse as the Himalayas and Andes mountain ranges, the Svalbard island group and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has the dual effect of raising global sea levels and depleting freshwater resources that serve millions of people around the world.

Glaciologists’ experiments lead to slip law for better forecasts of glacier speed, sea-level rise
Backed by a decade of experiments that simulate the huge forces involved in glacier sliding, glaciologists have written a “slip law” that can be used in computer models of glacier movement and sea-level rise.
East Antarctica’s Denman Glacier has retreated almost 3 miles over last 22 years
Irvine, Calif., March 23, 2020 – East Antarctica’s Denman Glacier has retreated 5 kilometers, nearly 3 miles, in the past 22 years, and researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are concerned that the shape of the ground surface beneath the ice sheet could make it even more susceptible to climate-driven collapse.

Scientists Find Far Higher than Expected Rate of Underwater Glacial Melting
Tidewater glaciers, the massive rivers of ice that end in the ocean, may be melting underwater much faster than previously thought, according to a Rutgers co-authored study that used robotic kayaks. The findings, which challenge current frameworks for analyzing ocean-glacier interactions, have implications for the rest of the world’s tidewater glaciers, whose rapid retreat is contributing to sea-level rise.
UCI-led team releases high-precision map of Antarctic ice sheet bed topography
Irvine, Calif., Dec. 12, 2019 – A University of California, Irvine-led team of glaciologists has unveiled the most accurate portrait yet of the contours of the land beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet – and, by doing so, has helped identify which regions of the continent are going to be more, or less, vulnerable to future climate warming.
Highlighting the importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers
A new Nature study provides insight into the world’s natural water towers, which are crucial to the welfare of 1.9 billion people.
Tulane scientist embarks on mission to Florida-sized glacier
Geologist Brent Goehring is joining researchers from across the U.S. and the U.K. to research sea-level rise