Topic description and stories

An illuminated manuscript from the late 14th to the early 15th century, depicting two individuals observing a lunar eclipse

Medieval monks accidentally recorded some of history’s biggest volcanic eruptions

05 Apr 2023

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history’s largest volcanic eruptions, according to a new analysis of 12th and...

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Full moon over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Researchers build more detailed picture of the movement of Greenland Ice Sheet

10 Feb 2023

Researchers have found that the movement of glaciers in Greenland is more complex than previously thought, with deformation in regions of warmer ice...

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Accelerating melt rate makes Greenland Ice Sheet world’s largest ‘dam’

21 Feb 2022

The world’s second-largest ice sheet is melting from the bottom up – and generating huge amounts of heat from hydropower.

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Fibre-optics used to take the temperature of Greenland Ice Sheet

14 May 2021

Scientists have used fibre-optic sensing to obtain the most detailed measurements of ice properties ever taken on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Their...

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Lake on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Lakes on Greenland Ice Sheet can drain huge amounts of water, even in winter

01 Apr 2021

Using satellite data to ‘see in the dark’, researchers have shown for the first time that lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet drain during winter, a...

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Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland

06 Jan 2020

Medieval Greenlanders may have chased dwindling walrus herds ever farther north in an effort to maintain their economy, when the value of walrus...

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Drone images show Greenland Ice Sheet becoming more unstable as it fractures

03 Dec 2019

The world’s second-largest ice sheet, and the single largest contributor to global sea level rise, is potentially becoming unstable because of...

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Icebergs in Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland

Sea ice acts as ‘pacemaker’ for abrupt climate change

06 Mar 2019

Substantial variations in past sea ice cover in the Norwegian Sea were instrumental for several abrupt climate changes in large parts of the world...

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Left: Upper jaw bones of a walrus, with tusks removed. Right: an elaborately-carved ecclesiastical walrus ivory plaque.

Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests

08 Aug 2018

New DNA analysis reveals that, before their mysterious disappearance, the Norse colonies of Greenland had a “near monopoly” on Europe’s walrus ivory...

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Chain reaction of fast-draining lakes poses new risk for Greenland ice sheet

14 Mar 2018

A growing network of lakes on the Greenland ice sheet has been found to drain in a chain reaction that speeds up the flow of the ice sheet...

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Isfjord, Ilulissat, Diskobay, West Greenland

Lakes discovered beneath Greenland Ice Sheet

28 Nov 2013

The subglacial lakes are the first to be identified in Greenland.

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Peering into a moulin

'Extreme Sleepover #11’ - moulins and meltwater on the Greenland ice sheet

01 Jan 2012

In the eleventh of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, glaciologists Dr Ian Willis and Alison Banwell watch as a lake...

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