Suggested Searches

Rifting and Calving on the Amery Ice Shelf
Mount Shasta in Winter
Earth Observatory Banner

Snow & Ice

Snow & Ice Sub-topics

Date Range

Meltwater Turns Iceberg A-23A Blue
6 min read

After a four-decade run, the massive, waterlogged berg is leaking meltwater and on the verge of disintegrating.

Jan 8, 2026
A Siberian Snowman in Billings
5 min read

Winds, waves, and ice near a remote town on the Chukchi Peninsula have sculpted a series of coastal inshore lagoons…

Dec 17, 2025
Islands of Fire and Ice Veiled in Cloud
3 min read

Puffs of low-level clouds mingle with the volcanic terrain of Candlemas and Vindication islands in the remote South Atlantic.

Dec 8, 2025
Satellites Detect Seasonal Pulses in Earth’s Glaciers
4 min read

From Alaska’s Saint Elias Mountains to Pakistan’s Karakoram, glaciers speed up and slow down with the seasons.

Dec 3, 2025
Antarctic Sea Ice Saw Its Third-Lowest Maximum
2 min read

Sea ice around the southernmost continent hit one of its lowest seasonal highs since the start of the satellite record.

Nov 17, 2025
A Giant Iceberg’s Final Drift
3 min read

After a long, turbulent journey, Antarctic Iceberg A-23A is signaling its demise as it floats in the South Atlantic.

Sep 24, 2025
Arctic Sea Ice Ties for 10th-Lowest on Record
3 min read

Satellite data show that Arctic sea ice likely reached its annual minimum extent on September 10, 2025.

Sep 18, 2025
Greenland Ice Sheet Gets a Refresh
3 min read

A moderately intense season of surface melting left part of the ice sheet dirty gray in summer 2025, but snowfall…

Sep 12, 2025
Alaska’s Brand New Island
3 min read

A landmass that was once encased in the ice of the Alsek Glacier is now surrounded by water.

Sep 7, 2025
Fleeting Glimpse of Rare Snow
3 min read

A short-lived storm dropped some of the largest accumulations in decades on Australia’s Northern Tablelands.

Aug 6, 2025
A Glacial Lake’s Evolution
3 min read

The outlet of Berg Lake, dammed by the Steller Glacier in Alaska, has been reconfigured after decades of ice retreat.

Aug 3, 2025
Antarctic Iceberg Downsizes
3 min read

Iceberg A-23A continued to lose sizable pieces of ice during the 2025 austral winter, but it remained the planet’s largest…

Aug 1, 2025
Múlajökull Glacier and Its Palette of Lakes
3 min read

Glacial retreat in central Iceland has uncovered an undulating topography riddled with colorful bodies of water.

Jul 29, 2025
Rare Snowfall in the Atacama Desert
4 min read

Snow infrequently falls in the high plains of northern Chile. And when it does, it doesn’t last for long.

Jul 18, 2025
Cloud Streets Over the Laptev Sea
3 min read

The striking cloud formation developed over Arctic waters north of Siberia in July 2025 as frigid air met warmer open…

Jul 17, 2025
Greenland’s Bejeweled Ice Sheet
2 min read

In early July 2025, around halfway through the island’s annual melting season, blue meltwater ponds dotted the western side of…

Jul 11, 2025
Western Mountain Snow Melts Fast and Early
4 min read

A warm and dry spring in the Pacific Northwest quickly depleted the seasonal snowpack, raising concern over summer water supplies…

Jun 27, 2025
Iliamna Volcano Ready to Rumble
3 min read

The glacier-covered Alaskan peak has a history of frequent, large avalanches.

Jun 22, 2025