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A shoulder of Alexandra Peak, the second heighest peak in the Rwenzori range, as seen from Margherita Peak. In the valley between the two peaks lies Stanley Glacier. The glacier was once so high that guides could lead clients across it on a gentle walk between the peaks. Today the face of the mountain is exposed as the glacier dies.

See the magnificent but melting glaciers of the Rwenzori mountains

31 May 2023

Spanning Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the glaciers of this little-studied mountain range may vanish this decade. These stunning photographs capture them before they disappear

15 million people live in possible flood path for melting glaciers

7 February 2023

Glacial lakes can cause flooding if an ice or rock dam holding back the water fails, putting an estimated 15 million people at risk, an analysis has found

Water flowing into a moulin and down to the bed of Store Glacier

Base of the Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than we thought

21 February 2022

As meltwater trickles down through the Greenland ice sheet, it heats up – which means that some areas at the base of the ice sheet are melting 100 times faster than we thought

Glacier in the Fitz Roy Mountain Range, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.

Thin glaciers suggest Andes faces 'peak water' sooner than thought

7 February 2022

A new global analysis suggests glaciers in the Andes contain less ice than we thought – but the glaciers of the Himalayas are thicker

Svalbard glacier ice loss projected to roughly double by 2100

19 January 2022

Archive photos of the Norwegian archipelago's glaciers enabled researchers to reconstruct past melting and project ice mass loss under future climate change

Ice memory: What ice cores tell us about Earth’s environmental history

18 June 2021

Glacial ice records all manner of precious information about the planet’s environmental history, but it is melting fast.

Did you know? Fewer than 100 people have a photographic memory

25 May 2021

True photographic memory is yet to be proved but some people have a very rare condition which allows them to recall past events in detail

I lived under a glacier for two weeks looking for life

5 May 2021

There are many methane-producing microbes that live under glaciers and we still have much to learn about their climate impact, says Jemma Wadham

Hitting Paris climate goal could cut sea level rise in half by 2100

5 May 2021

The amount of sea level rise coastal cities are facing in the coming century from melting ice could be roughly halved if the world meets the Paris Agreement’s toughest goal of holding global warming to 1.5°C

Eastern Alps may have been ice-free in the time of Ötzi the Iceman

17 December 2020

Ice cores from a glacier just 12 kilometres from the place the mummified Ötzi the Iceman was found in 1991 suggest that it formed just before or even within his lifetime