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Ice sheet

The Thwaites Glacier is one of the hardest places in Antarctica to access, and scientists have only recently been able to go there to study it.

The melting and collapse of Thwaites Glacier could affect sea levels for years to come

Climate Change

Thwaites Glacier is considered the world’s most important one — not just due to its size, but because of the massive amounts of ice that will melt due to global warming.

Researchers Scott Landolt and Mark Seefeldt set up an automatic snowfall measuring system in Antarctica.

An unexpected challenge on Antarctica: Measuring snowfall

Snow is blown off of the calving front off of Thurston Island in western Antarctica in this photo, taken in November 2014. New findings show the western side of Antarctica to be more vulnerable to warming oceans — and increased ice loss — than first thoug

A scientist’s response to Antarctic ice loss: ‘We can act.’

A polar bear keeps close to her young along the Beaufort Sea coast in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, March 6, 2007.

For polar bears, melting ice in the Arctic means less room to roam for food

Environment
Scientists setting up GPS sensors to measure "accelerated uplift" in Iceland.

Melting glaciers lift Iceland — literally

Environment
The World

Two new studies suggest more melting is in store for the Greenland ice sheet

Environment

When it comes to global warming, it appears that the greatest rate of warming is happening at the poles. That conclusion was strengthened recently by a couple of new studies focusing on the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. They each looked at different measurements, but both agreed that the impacts of global warming on the ice are underestimated.

Climate disruption and sea level rise

Environment

Thanks to a new study from the Potsdam Institute in Germany, it’s possible to measure how global warming will raise sea levels. The report predicted for every degree Celsius of global warming, sea levels are expected to rise seven feet.

Greenland ice sheet experiences massive melt in mid-July

Environment

That Greenland’s massive ice sheet melts during the summer is nothing new, but the size and speed of a recent thaw is. NASA scientists say a four-day melt in mid-July was the largest one in more than three decades of satellite observation.

Huge ice island breaks off of Greenland glacier

Environment

A massive ice island broke off of the Petermann Glacier in Greenland. The iceberg, which contains enough fresh water to supply every American for half a year, is roughly twice the size of Manhattan in New York.

Antarctica Warming Raises Sea Level Rise Risk

Environment

Antarctica has long been considered a last redoubt of cold in a warming globe. But new science suggests that a key part is warming up fast. Sam Eaton reports the finding could cause scientists to rethink their sea level projections for later this century.