State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Greenland Ice Sheet4

  • Most of Greenland Ice Melted to Bedrock in Recent Geologic Past, Says Study

    Finding Suggests the Ice Sheet Is More Vulnerable Than Thought

  • In Greenland, Exactly Where Meltwater Enters the Ocean Matters

    In Greenland, Exactly Where Meltwater Enters the Ocean Matters

    In southern Greenland in summer, rivers have been streaming off the ice sheet, pouring cold fresh water into the fjords. A new study tracks where that meltwater goes—with surprising results.

  • The Changing Upernavik Waterfront

    The Changing Upernavik Waterfront

    Project Background: Changing conditions in Greenland’s northwest glaciers over the last decade have led to a range of questions about water temperature and circulation patterns in the fjords where ocean water meets the glacial fronts.

  • Melting and Refreezing of Deep Greenland Ice Speeds Flow to Sea, Study Says

    Findings May Shift Understanding of Ice Sheet Behavior

  • The Art of Flying

    The Art of Flying

    Flying. It is something we are almost all familiar with, and yet I expect few of us have really sat back to appreciate the actual science of it. For the past 10 weeks we have been flying, not just a day or two a week but five or six days a week depending on the…

  • The ‘Glory’ in Clouds and Other Amazing Sights!

    The ‘Glory’ in Clouds and Other Amazing Sights!

    If you look carefully at the picture below you will see a small shadow of our plane completely encircled in a rainbow. This optical phenomenon, called a “glory,” can develop when the plane flies directly between the sun and a cloud below. Flying over the ice sheet in the far northeast of Greenland we saw…

  • Our Best Flight Yet

    Our Best Flight Yet

    Evidence of the retreat of glaciers since the last glacial maximum (check), flying over sites of ancient Inuit, Norse and present day settlements (check), and a personal recollection of my own past in this location (check).

  • Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…

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  • Most of Greenland Ice Melted to Bedrock in Recent Geologic Past, Says Study

    Finding Suggests the Ice Sheet Is More Vulnerable Than Thought

  • In Greenland, Exactly Where Meltwater Enters the Ocean Matters

    In Greenland, Exactly Where Meltwater Enters the Ocean Matters

    In southern Greenland in summer, rivers have been streaming off the ice sheet, pouring cold fresh water into the fjords. A new study tracks where that meltwater goes—with surprising results.

  • The Changing Upernavik Waterfront

    The Changing Upernavik Waterfront

    Project Background: Changing conditions in Greenland’s northwest glaciers over the last decade have led to a range of questions about water temperature and circulation patterns in the fjords where ocean water meets the glacial fronts.

  • Melting and Refreezing of Deep Greenland Ice Speeds Flow to Sea, Study Says

    Findings May Shift Understanding of Ice Sheet Behavior

  • The Art of Flying

    The Art of Flying

    Flying. It is something we are almost all familiar with, and yet I expect few of us have really sat back to appreciate the actual science of it. For the past 10 weeks we have been flying, not just a day or two a week but five or six days a week depending on the…

  • The ‘Glory’ in Clouds and Other Amazing Sights!

    The ‘Glory’ in Clouds and Other Amazing Sights!

    If you look carefully at the picture below you will see a small shadow of our plane completely encircled in a rainbow. This optical phenomenon, called a “glory,” can develop when the plane flies directly between the sun and a cloud below. Flying over the ice sheet in the far northeast of Greenland we saw…

  • Our Best Flight Yet

    Our Best Flight Yet

    Evidence of the retreat of glaciers since the last glacial maximum (check), flying over sites of ancient Inuit, Norse and present day settlements (check), and a personal recollection of my own past in this location (check).

  • Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…