A new report published in Scientific Data finds that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have shed roughly 12.5 trillion tons of ice since 1979, enough to cover the continental United States in five feet of water. Researchers found that most of this loss—about five-sixths—comes not from warmer air but from ocean water eroding ice sheets from below and along their edges. Scientists cite examples like Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier, which is now retreating up to 164 feet daily.
NOAA announced on September 14 that El Niño has officially crossed the threshold to become a 'very strong event' for the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter of 2026-27, a designation known as a Super El Niño. Forecasters say this could become the strongest El Niño on record, with effects lingering into 2027 and potentially raising sea levels along California's coast by up to a foot.
A new scientific analysis finds that the polar ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland have shed more than 11 trillion tons of ice since the 1970s. Researchers say the primary cause of this loss is not surface melting from warmer air, but glaciers accelerating and discharging ice into the ocean more quickly.
A new Nature Climate Change study by Van Tricht, Zekollari, Huss and colleagues models the fate of individual glaciers worldwide using three global glacier models and multiple climate scenarios ranging from 1.5°C to 4.0°C of warming. Researchers define a glacier as extinct once its area falls below 0.01 km² or its volume drops under 1% of its original size, and their projections show extinction rates peaking around the middle of this century.
Forecasters say the current El Niño event, already projected to be one of the strongest on record, may drive extreme weather patterns lasting into 2027. New analysis suggests it could also raise sea levels along the California coast by roughly a foot, a previously underreported consequence of the phenomenon.
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