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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/glaciers/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Glaciers</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/glaciers/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Argentina considers weakening glacier safeguards in pursuit of critical minerals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/argentina-considers-weakening-glacier-safeguards-in-pursuit-of-critical-minerals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/argentina-considers-weakening-glacier-safeguards-in-pursuit-of-critical-minerals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2026 15:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/18235019/AP081030033062-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314448</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Latin America, Patagonia, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Glaciers, Indigenous Peoples, Politics, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Officials in Argentina are considering a reform to the country’s glacier protection law, a change critics say would weaken environmental regulations and clear the way for expanded mining in some of the country’s most fragile ecosystems. The bill to reform the glacier law is scheduled for a vote in the Senate later this month; if [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Officials in Argentina are considering a reform to the country’s glacier protection law, a change critics say would weaken environmental regulations and clear the way for expanded mining in some of the country’s most fragile ecosystems. The bill to reform the glacier law is scheduled for a vote in the Senate later this month; if passed, it would then move on to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress. Lawmakers will have to decide whether they want to scale back protections that currently restrict mining and other development near glaciers in the Andes and beyond. “This reform, if approved, would set a negative precedent for other environmental protection regulations and puts at risk strategic resources for the provision of freshwater and the regulation of watersheds that supply different localities and jurisdictions in our country,” the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN), an NGO, said in a statement. Argentina has 8,484 square kilometers (3,276 square miles) of ice cover spanning 12 provinces and 39 river basins, according to the National Glacier Inventory, a scientific registry and map database overseen by the Argentine Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA). Glaciers are important freshwater reserves, supplying water for drinking, agriculture and other needs throughout the country. They feed into around 40% of the country’s watersheds and provide access to water to 7 million residents, or around 18% of Argentina’s population, according to FARN. A tourist takes pictures of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/argentina-considers-weakening-glacier-safeguards-in-pursuit-of-critical-minerals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/argentina-considers-weakening-glacier-safeguards-in-pursuit-of-critical-minerals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314448</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What can—and cannot—be done to save the world’s glaciers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/what-can-and-cannot-be-done-to-save-the-worlds-glaciers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/what-can-and-cannot-be-done-to-save-the-worlds-glaciers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jan 2026 14:54:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/14144034/margerie_glacier_058-26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312933</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Freshwater, Glaciers, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Mountains, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers are often treated as scenic features or scientific curiosities. In fact, they are critical infrastructure. Though they cover roughly a tenth of the Earth’s land surface, meltwater from glaciers and seasonal snowpacks supports drinking water, agriculture, industry, and energy production for close to half the global population. That support system is now shrinking, fast. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers are often treated as scenic features or scientific curiosities. In fact, they are critical infrastructure. Though they cover roughly a tenth of the Earth’s land surface, meltwater from glaciers and seasonal snowpacks supports drinking water, agriculture, industry, and energy production for close to half the global population. That support system is now shrinking, fast. Measurements collected over decades show that glacier loss is not a future risk but a present condition. According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, glaciers worldwide have lost more than 30 meters of average thickness since 1970. The pace has accelerated since the early 2000s. Each of the last several years has set new records for ice loss. What was once gradual retreat has become sustained decline. Annual mass balance of reference glaciers with more than 30 years of ongoing glaciological measurements. Annual mass change values are given on the y-axis in the unit meter water equivalent (m w.e.) which corresponds to tonnes per square meter (1,000 kg m-2). Courtesy of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) Cumulative mass change relative to 1992 for regional and global means based on data from reference glaciers. Cumulative values are given on the y-axis in the unit meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Courtesy of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) The cause is not mysterious. Rising global temperatures have increased surface melt while shortening accumulation seasons. In many mountain regions, precipitation that once fell as snow now arrives as rain, depriving glaciers of replenishment. The Intergovernmental Panel on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/what-can-and-cannot-be-done-to-save-the-worlds-glaciers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/what-can-and-cannot-be-done-to-save-the-worlds-glaciers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312933</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As the Andes’ glaciers melt, our values can help: Voices from the land (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2025 20:05:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yesid Achicue]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/06153917/C78B864E-CC37-41D0-AA35-364F92291911-5382-000005CD3E60FB7E-rotated-e1760472988787-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307630</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Voices from the Land]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Commentary, Culture, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Indigenous Peoples, Mountains, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where the impacts of these urgent crises are deeply felt, but also where solutions are rooted. Through this series, we speak from our territories, and ensure our truths are part of the global conversation. In the Colombian Andes, on the highest points above sea level, I have seen white masses that dazzle and spread life. Up here, I have been able to truly feel the water, smell the pristine air and experience the pulse of the Earth while contemplating the glories of a life cycle where the destiny of the planet seems to rest. It is no wonder that many years ago, when my older brother took me to see the sunrise that broke over braided mountain peaks in changing light, I was able to understand how one of the most amazing creations on Earth began to rise: the Andes mountain range, a serene place that has been part of a perfect balance, where symbiotic bonds are created with all that exists. The Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world, stretches like a giant snake embracing all of South America. Throughout its immense presence, it winds through various territories and countries, including my own&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307630</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists weigh giant sea curtain to shield ‘Doomsday Glacier’ from melting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/scientists-weigh-giant-sea-curtain-to-shield-doomsday-glacier-from-melting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/scientists-weigh-giant-sea-curtain-to-shield-doomsday-glacier-from-melting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2025 15:34:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23122921/Thwaites_Glacier-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306412</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Arctic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Geoengineering, Glaciers, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ice Shelves, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Sea Ice, Sea Levels, Temperatures, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thwaites Glacier rises above the Amundsen Sea in the Antarctic, a towering white cliff abutting cerulean waters. Roughly the size of Great Britain and spanning 120 kilometers (80 miles) across, Thwaites — part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — may seem all but invincible. But among scientists, it’s known as the “Doomsday Glacier” for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thwaites Glacier rises above the Amundsen Sea in the Antarctic, a towering white cliff abutting cerulean waters. Roughly the size of Great Britain and spanning 120 kilometers (80 miles) across, Thwaites — part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — may seem all but invincible. But among scientists, it’s known as the “Doomsday Glacier” for its potential to raise global sea levels. Now, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, some polar researchers are investigating a radical geoengineering plan to install seabed curtains that could protect Thwaites from melting down. Thwaites Glacier is rapidly shedding ice as the world warms from climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Thwaites is losing about 50 billion metric tons of ice every year, contributing to about 4% of present-day sea-level rise worldwide. But if Thwaites were to melt down entirely, it could raise the average global sea level by more than 0.6 meters (2 feet) over the next few centuries. This would inundate coastal cities around the world and force hundreds of millions of people to migrate. Some scientists think it could be even worse. Thwaites may act as a natural dam for the rest of ice contained within West Antarctica. If it collapses, it could destabilize other glaciers, potentially pushing global sea level rise to as high as 3 m (10 ft). In a 2024 briefing, the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a group of polar scientists closely studying the glacier’s fate, said a worst-case meltdown scenario can’t be ruled out,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/scientists-weigh-giant-sea-curtain-to-shield-doomsday-glacier-from-melting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/scientists-weigh-giant-sea-curtain-to-shield-doomsday-glacier-from-melting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306412</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities and ecosystems in Venezuela learn to adapt to life after glaciers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/communities-and-ecosystems-in-venezuela-learn-to-adapt-to-life-after-glaciers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/communities-and-ecosystems-in-venezuela-learn-to-adapt-to-life-after-glaciers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2025 15:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeanfreddy Gutiérrez TorresMaría Fernanda Rodríguez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/30143735/A-scientist-from-Venezuelas-Last-Glacier-project-collects-ice-samples-from-La-Corona-in-December-2023-for-study.-Photo_-Stefano-Pozzebon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301647</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecosystems, extractives, Fossil Fuels, Freshwater, Glaciers, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Mitigation, Mountains, Plants, Research, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MÉRIDA, Venezuela- José Betancourt, 75, climbed to the glacier of Pico Bolívar, Venezuela&#8217;s highest peak, 158 times before it disappeared in 2017. He’s also summited the nearby Pico Humboldt, the country’s second-highest peak, more than 100 times. At 4,925 meters (16,158 feet), Humboldt still has a glacier — for now. In 2023, scientists demoted the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MÉRIDA, Venezuela- José Betancourt, 75, climbed to the glacier of Pico Bolívar, Venezuela&#8217;s highest peak, 158 times before it disappeared in 2017. He’s also summited the nearby Pico Humboldt, the country’s second-highest peak, more than 100 times. At 4,925 meters (16,158 feet), Humboldt still has a glacier — for now. In 2023, scientists demoted the ever-shrinking glacier, La Corona, covering an area barely larger than two football fields, to ice field status. Venezuela has become the first tropical country to lose all its glaciers. But with most of the ice gone, the mountains are seeing new life emerge, and local communities are seeking to reinvent the identity of the city of Mérida, a place once known for its eternal snows. In the early 1900s, Sierra Nevada de Mérida National Park in western Venezuela was home to more than 10 prominent glaciers formed during the last glacial period, about 21,500 years ago. These sat atop the peaks of El Toro, El León, Espejo, Bolívar, La Concha, Bonpland and Humboldt. Their retreat first became visible at the end of the 19th century. In 1890, Venezuelan writer and historian Tulio Febres Cordero wrote: “It has been said for some time that the snow in the mountains is diminishing; and the older neighbors point out with sadness the places where the snow has completely disappeared. The decrease is slow, but unfortunately true.” The 1956 International High Mountain Ski Competition at Pico Espejo in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, the only one in Venezuela. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/communities-and-ecosystems-in-venezuela-learn-to-adapt-to-life-after-glaciers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/communities-and-ecosystems-in-venezuela-learn-to-adapt-to-life-after-glaciers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301647</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microplastics and melting ice reveal deepening crisis in Antarctica</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/microplastics-and-melting-ice-reveal-deepening-crisis-in-antarctica/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/microplastics-and-melting-ice-reveal-deepening-crisis-in-antarctica/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2025 09:14:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Soledad Domínguez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/16090108/Rompehielos-con-la-mision-avanza-por-la-Antartida-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300828</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Marine, Microplastics, Oceans, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers melting rapidly, fields of moss expanding, water streaming off ice shelves once frozen solid: these are just a few of the impacts of climate change observed by a team of 57 researchers during a 70-day voyage around the Antarctic coast on the Russian icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov. The expedition also revealed the presence of microplastics [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers melting rapidly, fields of moss expanding, water streaming off ice shelves once frozen solid: these are just a few of the impacts of climate change observed by a team of 57 researchers during a 70-day voyage around the Antarctic coast on the Russian icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov. The expedition also revealed the presence of microplastics on the southern continent, and that the salinity of the Southern Ocean has decreased due to melting ice. The icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov. Image courtesy ICCE/Anderson Astor and Marcelo Curia. Antarctica is Earth’s fifth-largest continent and a key climate regulator. Together with the much smaller Arctic region, Antarctica redistributes the heat absorbed in the equatorial zone, balancing thermal energy. In other words, the ice masses in these two extreme locations of the planet are part of a huge circulatory machine that regulates energy, affecting the global climate. Led by Brazilian glaciologist Jefferson Cardia Simões, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul’s Polar and Climate Center (CPC–UFRGS), the International Antarctic Coastal Circumnavigation Expedition (ICCE) took place in 2024. A total of 57 researchers from seven countries traveled 29,000 kilometers (about 18,000 miles), circling Antarctica and collecting snow, ice samples and seawater, to understand how the microbial life that inhabits this region is responding to climate change. An ice core collected for analysis. Image courtesy of ICCE/Anderson Astor and Marcelo Curia. The team drilled into the ice, collecting samples that will shed light on the nature of the atmosphere at different times in history, as well&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/microplastics-and-melting-ice-reveal-deepening-crisis-in-antarctica/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/microplastics-and-melting-ice-reveal-deepening-crisis-in-antarctica/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300828</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Still no trial over Argentina cyanide mine spill, 7 years after officials were charged</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/still-no-trial-over-argentina-cyanide-mine-spill-7-years-after-officials-were-charged/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/still-no-trial-over-argentina-cyanide-mine-spill-7-years-after-officials-were-charged/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2025 15:32:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/16143624/14_02_BarrickGold-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Environmental Law, Glaciers, Gold Mining, Mining, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of a three-part series on underreported issues involving Canadian mining companies and Indigenous peoples or local communities. Read part two and part three. Seven years after an environmental administrator and three secretaries of the environment were charged with negligence that resulted in a toxic cyanide spill at Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of a three-part series on underreported issues involving Canadian mining companies and Indigenous peoples or local communities. Read part two and part three. Seven years after an environmental administrator and three secretaries of the environment were charged with negligence that resulted in a toxic cyanide spill at Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, the case has still not gone to trial. “Everything has been in place since 2018 for the oral and public trial,” Domingo Jofré, a member of Jáchal no se Toca, the NGO that filed the lawsuit, told Mongabay by phone. “But it remains dormant in some federal judge’s drawer.” One of the four officials awaiting trial told Mongabay they haven’t received a court date or an explanation for the delay. The first spill at the Veladero mine in 2015 dumped a million liters (264,000 gallons) of cyanide solution into nearby rivers in the province of San Juan. More spills occurred in 2016 and 2017 and are still under investigation. Barrick Gold, the second-largest gold miner in the world, owns two major open-pit mines in the province: Veladero and Pascua-Lama. The Veladero mine has been co-owned with Chinese company Shandong Gold since 2017. La Palca River, a tributary of the Jáchal River and part of the Desaguadero River Basin, in the province of San Juan, passes near the location of the Veladero mine owned by Barrick Gold. Image courtesy of Asamblea Jáchal No Se Toca. In November 2017, Ricardo Villalba, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/still-no-trial-over-argentina-cyanide-mine-spill-7-years-after-officials-were-charged/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/still-no-trial-over-argentina-cyanide-mine-spill-7-years-after-officials-were-charged/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expedition links Antarctic glacial melting to climate catastrophe in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/expedition-links-antarctic-glacial-melting-to-climate-catastrophe-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/expedition-links-antarctic-glacial-melting-to-climate-catastrophe-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2025 11:33:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/26100832/Copia-de-ICCE_MC_3798-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296493</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Glaciers, Global Warming, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a part of the world where throughout history only the pure white of snow and ice could be seen, today green moss and grass are emerging. Fish and penguins have begun to migrate south in search of colder regions. Even rain, an unthinkable phenomenon until recent times, now falls on this part of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a part of the world where throughout history only the pure white of snow and ice could be seen, today green moss and grass are emerging. Fish and penguins have begun to migrate south in search of colder regions. Even rain, an unthinkable phenomenon until recent times, now falls on this part of the planet. These are just a few of the signs that temperatures are rising in parts of Antarctica, and quickly. “What most caught my attention are the shrinking glaciers and the increased areas of melted snow at their front edges, where a whole new set of organisms are now growing,” says Jefferson Cardia Simões from the Polar and Climate Center at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil. “It’s very striking because it’s evident at first glance.” Simões is a professor at the university’s polar geography department and has visited Antarctica 27 times since 1990. He led the most recent expedition, which ran from November 2024 until January 2025 and is already recognized as the largest polar circumnavigation ever carried out. The team included 61 researchers from seven different countries and the trip covered 29,000 kilometers (18,000 miles) — about three-quarters the circumference of the globe. The team spent 70 days aboard a Russian icebreaker, a ship that can travel safely through frozen seas. Image courtesy of Anderson Astor and Marcelo Curia/ICCE. The expedition ran 70 days on a Russian icebreaker, a ship that can cross through frozen seas and navigate near&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/expedition-links-antarctic-glacial-melting-to-climate-catastrophe-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296493</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/with-climate-change-cryosphere-melt-scales-up-as-a-threat-to-planetary-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/with-climate-change-cryosphere-melt-scales-up-as-a-threat-to-planetary-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2025 03:32:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/20064658/9-ice-graves-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296143</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Diseases, Earth Science, Environment, Extreme Weather, food security, Freshwater, Glaciers, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Health, Ice Shelves, Impact Of Climate Change, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Permafrost, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Politics, Public Health, Research, Science, Sea Ice, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earth’s frozen places — ice sheets, glaciers and permafrost — are melting: A clear sign of climate change and a planet quickly exiting the stable state that gave rise to human civilization. This great thaw is having far-reaching consequences for communities and individuals across the globe — from polar and mountainous regions to coastal areas. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earth’s frozen places — ice sheets, glaciers and permafrost — are melting: A clear sign of climate change and a planet quickly exiting the stable state that gave rise to human civilization. This great thaw is having far-reaching consequences for communities and individuals across the globe — from polar and mountainous regions to coastal areas. In a recent landmark report, marking the World Day for Glaciers, UNESCO is ringing alarm bells: Cryosphere melt is putting freshwater accessibility at risk for more than one billion people living in mountainous regions and a further two billion living downstream as glaciers and snowpacks melt away and decline; most of those individuals live in developing countries. That same report finds that cryosphere melt is endangering two-thirds of irrigated agriculture across the globe. “The melting and the changes in the cryosphere are a reality and we need to really start taking action,” Abou Amani, director of the Division of Water Sciences and secretary of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, tells Mongabay in an interview. That’s a stark warning, but only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gauging the cryosphere’s importance to human wellbeing and evaluating potential harms as it shrinks away. Amani lists the ever-increasing risks associated with shrinking mountain snowpacks and glaciers — melting that has downstream impacts on water quality and availability, harms food security, heightens disease risk, triggers catastrophic landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (or GLOFs), and threatens the long-term viability of hydropower. Those risks have already heightened —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/with-climate-change-cryosphere-melt-scales-up-as-a-threat-to-planetary-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/with-climate-change-cryosphere-melt-scales-up-as-a-threat-to-planetary-health/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/vicuna-poop-creates-biodiversity-hotspots-as-glaciers-retreat-rapidly/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/vicuna-poop-creates-biodiversity-hotspots-as-glaciers-retreat-rapidly/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Feb 2025 10:54:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/20104542/vicuna-image-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Glaciers, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Impact Of Climate Change, Mammals, Plants, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The vicuña’s social habit of pooping in the same place could help Andean ecosystems adapt as glaciers rapidly retreat due to climate change. Researchers found that communal loos for vicuñas (Lama vicugna), a wild camelid relative of the llama, in barren and recently deglaciated areas in the high Andes in southeastern Peru are packed full [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The vicuña’s social habit of pooping in the same place could help Andean ecosystems adapt as glaciers rapidly retreat due to climate change. Researchers found that communal loos for vicuñas (Lama vicugna), a wild camelid relative of the llama, in barren and recently deglaciated areas in the high Andes in southeastern Peru are packed full of nutrients that encourage plant growth. These latrines act as little islands of nutrients and biodiversity as a recently deglaciated landscape is mostly gravel and rock, barely constituting soil, says Clifton Bueno de Mesquita, a research scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, co-author of the study published in Nature Scientific Reports. “That&#8217;s why the vicuña poop has such a large impact,” Bueno de Mesquita says. “They&#8217;re helping plants establish in these harsh environments much faster than they would otherwise.” After sampling soils in the latrines and comparing them with nearby deglaciated areas, the researchers found that latrines have far higher levels of moisture and key nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and were teeming with microorganisms. Soil in the latrines also had 62% organic matter, while deglaciated soils had as little as 1.5%. All in all, these conditions enable microbes and plants to thrive, according to the study, which focused on the Sibinacocha watershed in the Cordillera Vilcanota, in the department of Cusco, which is experiencing rapid glacier melting. Vicuña latrines can help plants colonize the harsh and inhospitable environment left in the wake of retreating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/vicuna-poop-creates-biodiversity-hotspots-as-glaciers-retreat-rapidly/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/vicuna-poop-creates-biodiversity-hotspots-as-glaciers-retreat-rapidly/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294733</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Andes glacier melt threatens Amazon’s rivers &#038; intensifies droughts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2024 13:35:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amanda Magnani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/11113406/Receding-glacier-in-the-Sinakara-Valley--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291449</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Dolphins, Drought, Endangered Species, Environment, Extreme Weather, Freshwater, Glaciers, Mammals, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The ice loss in the Andes could reduce the water flow to the Amazon rivers by up to 20%.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After two consecutive years of record-breaking droughts, the river levels in the Amazon Basin are slowly starting to recover. According to the Geological Survey of Brazil, the Madeira River, home to the most diverse fish life in the region, left the “drought” classification as its levels surpassed the 13-foot mark in late November. In both Madeira and Negro rivers, navigability is back to normal after months of suspension. However, the drought is far from over, and its impacts are still felt across the region. In 2024, 69% of municipalities in the Amazon recorded more intense drought levels than in 2023. In the Madeira River, the levels were so low that the Geological Survey had to install a new ruler to measure it. In Amazonas state alone, 850,000 people were affected and Indigenous communities still struggle with food insecurity and lack of access to drinking water. In the state of Pará, mass mortality of fish caused by the drought increases the vulnerability of riverine communities. Although river levels are beginning to rise, the rains from the Amazonian wet season are less than expected, and the drought may further intensify into December. While notably extreme, the droughts experienced by the Amazon River Basin in the past two years are not unusual. For the past 20 years, the nine countries that make up the Amazon Basin have seen drastic reductions in their total water surface area, with nine out of the past 10 years among the driest ever registered. They were also made&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291449</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Chile, a copper mining project tainted by environmental damage sues 32 locals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2024 09:12:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Lieberherr Pacheco]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/17112803/Los-Pelambres-mine-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287217</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Copper, Degraded Lands, Drinking Water, Environment, Glaciers, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Water Scarcity, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During the second week of October 2023, in northern Chile’s Coquimbo, Yasna Silva used social media to ask for help. She and her entire family had been sued by the Los Pelambres Mining Company. The reason? Neither she, nor the rest of the residents of her community, Pupío, had agreed to the expansion of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During the second week of October 2023, in northern Chile’s Coquimbo, Yasna Silva used social media to ask for help. She and her entire family had been sued by the Los Pelambres Mining Company. The reason? Neither she, nor the rest of the residents of her community, Pupío, had agreed to the expansion of a road that would allow the mining company to install two new pipelines: one that would transport 1,200 liters (317 gallons) of industrial water per second, and another that would transport copper concentrate away from where the company extracts it in the Andes Mountains in the Coquimbo region. Both pipelines would be fewer than 100 meters (330 feet) from her house, and the fear that a leak could affect her home led her to oppose the project. Even though there is already a pipeline in the area, it currently only transports 400 l (105 gallons) of industrial water per second. With the 2023 approval of the company’s new Operational Adaptation project, that pipeline will be able to hold three times its current capacity, and a separate pipeline for copper concentrate will be added. The mining company told Mongabay Latam that during some conversations with property owners, “it was not possible to agree on compensation for the rights-of-way,” (or, in other words, for the construction of the road required to install the pipelines). For that reason, the company said that “it was requested that an impartial third party determine a fair price to pay for the easements,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287217</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>High-resolution maps reveal surprises about how ice shelves melt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/high-resolution-maps-reveal-surprises-about-how-ice-shelves-melt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/high-resolution-maps-reveal-surprises-about-how-ice-shelves-melt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2024 12:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/07104008/ice-shelf-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285816</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Arctic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Glaciers, Ice Shelves, Mapping, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Research, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Anna Wåhlin and her colleagues deployed a submersible vehicle to go under the ice in Antarctica, they meant for it to serve as a proof of concept for the technology. Instead, what they found has left them more mystified than ever. The first detailed maps from the underside of the Doston Ice Shelf in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Anna Wåhlin and her colleagues deployed a submersible vehicle to go under the ice in Antarctica, they meant for it to serve as a proof of concept for the technology. Instead, what they found has left them more mystified than ever. The first detailed maps from the underside of the Doston Ice Shelf in Antarctica revealed patterns that couldn’t be explained by existing models. On one side of the ice shelf, areas where the ice had melted were shaped like teardrops. The other side, however, resembled landscapes on ice. “When we saw the first teardrop, we thought ‘Oh, that’s a really funny shape,’ but then we saw more and more and they were everywhere in the western side,” Wåhlin, an oceanographer and professor at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, told Mongabay in a video interview. On the eastern side, Wåhlin said it was much more dramatic, with “thick shapes carved into the ice that looked a little bit like the Grand Canyon where the water had eaten away into the ice.” A study co-authored by Wåhlin and published in the journal Science Advances documents how the team developed and deployed the autonomous underwater vehicle that traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) back and forth under the Doston Ice Shelf over the course of 27 days in 2022. The study was conducted as part of a project monitoring how atmospheric and oceanic processes impact ice shelves. Ice shelves are floating masses of ice attached to land mass. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/high-resolution-maps-reveal-surprises-about-how-ice-shelves-melt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285816</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Llama herding helps community in Peru recover from a melting glacier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/llama-herding-helps-community-in-peru-recover-from-a-melting-glacier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/llama-herding-helps-community-in-peru-recover-from-a-melting-glacier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2023 14:27:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sierra Bouchér]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/25035935/AnaisZimmer_llamas_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275893</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Ecosystems, Glaciers, Mammals, Restoration, Rewilding, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When a glacier melts, all it leaves in its wake is untouched ground. These craggy, lifeless rocks begin to feel sun and rain for the first time in millennia. They contain a few seeds, perhaps, stored in the freezing embrace of the glacier above them. But when the first rains touch their surface, most of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When a glacier melts, all it leaves in its wake is untouched ground. These craggy, lifeless rocks begin to feel sun and rain for the first time in millennia. They contain a few seeds, perhaps, stored in the freezing embrace of the glacier above them. But when the first rains touch their surface, most of what washes from the ground is poison. The rocky soils uncovered by melting glaciers send acidic water into the communities downstream. Over time, the plants and soils of a well-developed ecosystem will trap these harmful chemicals like a filter. But that can take decades, because such isolated high-altitude ecosystems recover extremely slowly once a glacier retreats. To speed up this natural protection in the face of climate change, scientists have joined with residents in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, to enlist their famously fuzzy agricultural helper: the llama (Llama glama). The Llama 2000 Asociación community brings llamas to the test plots in the Cordillera Blanca. Photo credit: Anaïs Zimmer After bringing llamas back to these exposed lands to graze, scientists saw dramatic improvements in the quality of the soil and the health of the recovering ecosystem in just three years. Not only did the llamas fertilize the soil, but they also brought new seeds to the land, according to a recent paper in Scientific Reports. “I did not expect it to have significant changes in plant cover and soil composition in three years. It&#8217;s pretty fast,” said environmental scientist Anaïs Zimmer of the University of Texas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/llama-herding-helps-community-in-peru-recover-from-a-melting-glacier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/llama-herding-helps-community-in-peru-recover-from-a-melting-glacier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275893</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chile government faces backlash after U-turn on copper mine</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2023 11:56:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Boris van der Spek]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/20104615/Campamento_minero-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Copper, Drinking Water, Environment, Freshwater, Glaciers, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Infrastructure, Mining, Politics, Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Macarena Martinic wasn’t surprised earlier this year when the Chilean government said yes to extending the life of Los Bronces, a large, centuries-old open-pit copper mine in the Andes, an hour&#8217;s drive from the capital, Santiago. &#8220;A week earlier, Chilean Economy Minister Nicolás Grau mentioned how important the mine was to the Chilean economy,” says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Macarena Martinic wasn’t surprised earlier this year when the Chilean government said yes to extending the life of Los Bronces, a large, centuries-old open-pit copper mine in the Andes, an hour&#8217;s drive from the capital, Santiago. &#8220;A week earlier, Chilean Economy Minister Nicolás Grau mentioned how important the mine was to the Chilean economy,” says Martinic, a lawyer with FIMA, an environmental NGO. “To be fair, we already felt the storm coming. Nevertheless, I was very disappointed. This approval is a big contradiction in what this government projects.” Los Bronces was discovered and first exploited in 1867, when the mountainous region lacked adequate infrastructure, and the technology to extract minerals from the ground was limited. In the early 20th century, mining operations took off in earnest, turning Los Bronces into one of Chile&#8217;s largest copper mines, currently producing nearly 330,000 metric tons of the metal per year. In May 2022, the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA), the Chilean government’s environmental regulator, determined that new plans by Anglo American, the U.K.-headquartered mining giant with a majority stake in Los Bronces, would threaten the health of residents of surrounding areas. It rejected Anglo American’s plans to extend its operations, warning that air quality would be severely impacted by mining and that surrounding glaciers could melt faster because of snow pollution. Dust pollution from mining could affect the life of glaciers in the vicinity of the mine as dust pollution would increase ice melting. Image by Shriram Rajagopalan via Flickr 2.0. In response to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sagarmatha microbes may survive harsh conditions for decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2023 07:35:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/21071613/mountaineering-sagarmatha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Climate Change, Diseases, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Microorganisms, Mountains, Permafrost, Pollution, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent study published in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, shows that even the winds haven’t swept away a trail of tough microbes that can survive the harsh conditions on the Roof of the World for decades, if not centuries, left behind by mountaineers in the area. “Some of the microbes we found were possibly transported by humans when they sneeze or cough,” said Steve Schmidt, co-author on the paper and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “The concern, with all the pollution that’s going on Everest, is that these microbes aren’t going to go away,” he told Mongabay, adding that he himself didn’t go to Sagarmatha to collect soil samples there. Through his previous work, Schmidt had established ties with researchers on their way to Sagarmatha to set up the world&#8217;s highest weather station on South Col in May 2019 as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition (April to May 2019).  He requested collections of soil samples, to which Baker Perry, co-author and professor of geography at Appalachian State University, obliged. As part of the study, three surface sediment samples from the South Col were collected by members of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ahead of polls, Nepal’s political parties, voters take heed of climate impacts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/ahead-of-polls-nepals-political-parties-voters-take-heed-of-climate-impacts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/ahead-of-polls-nepals-political-parties-voters-take-heed-of-climate-impacts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2022 11:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/18105654/melamchi-floods-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262756</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Dams, Earthquakes, Flooding, Glaciers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINDHUPALCHOWK — When Batuli Tamang goes to cast her vote during Nepal’s general elections, scheduled for Nov. 20, she will have only one thing in mind, she says: saving her newly built house from floods and landslides in the district of Sindhupalchowk, Nepal’s “capital of catastrophes.” The 60-year-old lost her previous home to the 2015 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINDHUPALCHOWK — When Batuli Tamang goes to cast her vote during Nepal’s general elections, scheduled for Nov. 20, she will have only one thing in mind, she says: saving her newly built house from floods and landslides in the district of Sindhupalchowk, Nepal’s “capital of catastrophes.” The 60-year-old lost her previous home to the 2015 earthquake. After her son returned from working in the Middle East, they built her a new home near the Melamchi River, in Sindhupalchowk’s Melamchi municipality. But following massive flooding in the area in June last year, Tamang says she fears losing her home once again. “Landslides and floods threaten to wipe away the new house as well,” she says. Sixty-year-old Batuli Tamang sits in front of her house on the banks of the Melamchi river in Nepal. Image by Anish Tiwari Tamang says she doesn’t know about climate change, but she’s sure there’s something wrong with the environment these days. “We lived next to the river for generations and never heard from our forefathers that the river would get flooded to such an extent,” she says. “Maybe the gods are angry with us. We need to leave the house every time we have rain because it could be washed away any time.” The Melamchi flood hasn’t officially been attributed to climate change, but scientists studying it say higher-than-usual temperatures in the Himalayas may have been responsible. Unusually high volumes of water and debris cause the river to swell and burst its banks, leading to more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/ahead-of-polls-nepals-political-parties-voters-take-heed-of-climate-impacts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262756</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On the roof of the world, water is life. Or a sign of it, thanks to eDNA</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/on-the-roof-of-the-world-water-is-life-or-a-sign-of-it-thanks-to-edna/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/on-the-roof-of-the-world-water-is-life-or-a-sign-of-it-thanks-to-edna/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2022 09:20:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/14091025/Photo-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=261501</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri WildTech Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, DNA, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Glaciers, Research, Technology, Water, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s tough enough to study one particular species endemic to Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Mount Everest. Imagine attempting to catalog the entire wealth of biodiversity that makes its home on the world’s highest mountain. That’s the gargantuan task that Tracie Seimon set out to do when she led a team that was part of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s tough enough to study one particular species endemic to Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Mount Everest. Imagine attempting to catalog the entire wealth of biodiversity that makes its home on the world’s highest mountain. That’s the gargantuan task that Tracie Seimon set out to do when she led a team that was part of a first-of-its-kind expedition to the mountain in 2019. Over four weeks, working with the nosebleed peaks of the Himalayas towering around them, Seimon and her team collected 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of water from ponds and streams on and around Sagarmatha. (The team worked on the mountain’s southern flank, which lies in Nepal; the northern flank is in Tibet, China, where the mountain is known as Qomolangma.) Once back at their labs in North America, they searched the water for environmental DNA, or eDNA — trace amounts of genetic material shed by living organisms — to conduct a biodiversity assessment. What they found was far more than they had expected. The team identified DNA from organisms belonging to 187 taxonomic orders, which constitutes 16.3% of the total known orders. Seimon collecting water samples which were later analyzed to assess and understand the biodiversity on Mount Everest. Credit: Anton Seimon. “Mount Everest and the landmass above 4,500 meters [14,700 feet] only occupies less than 3% of global landmass,” Seimon, director of the molecular diagnostics laboratory at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), told Mongabay in a video interview. “We were really surprised to find 16% of global&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/on-the-roof-of-the-world-water-is-life-or-a-sign-of-it-thanks-to-edna/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/on-the-roof-of-the-world-water-is-life-or-a-sign-of-it-thanks-to-edna/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-261501</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With sea ice melting, glacial ice could be a lifeline for polar bears</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/with-sea-ice-melting-glacial-ice-could-be-a-lifeline-for-polar-bears/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/with-sea-ice-melting-glacial-ice-could-be-a-lifeline-for-polar-bears/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2022 18:24:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/16181235/Ursus_maritimus_mother_with_cub-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257354</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic and Greenland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Glaciers, Ice Shelves, Mammals, Polar Bears, Predators, Tracking, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Kristin Laidre began working on a long-term project to study polar bears in eastern Greenland, she didn’t expect to find a new subpopulation of the species — and she certainly didn’t expect to find the most genetically isolated polar bears on the planet. There are 19 recognized subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) living throughout [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Kristin Laidre began working on a long-term project to study polar bears in eastern Greenland, she didn’t expect to find a new subpopulation of the species — and she certainly didn’t expect to find the most genetically isolated polar bears on the planet. There are 19 recognized subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) living throughout the Arctic, including the subpopulation found living on the eastern coast of Greenland. But on the southeastern edge of the island, Laidre and her colleagues found a group of several hundred polar bears that were both behaviorally and genetically unique. While most polar bears depend on sea ice to hunt seals, the southeast Greenland polar bears had found ways to hunt using pieces of ice that had broken off from glaciers. “We were not expecting to identify a unique group like we found in the southeast,” Laidre, a polar bear expert at the University of Washington and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, told Mongabay in an email. The dots on the left map show the locations where samples from Greenland polar bears were collected. The new Southeast Greenland population, shown as red dots, is located between 60 and 64 degrees north. The map at the right shows the 19 current polar bear subpopulations, with colored dots showing the location of other samples used in the analysis. Image courtesy of Laidre et al. / Science. A new report published in Science by Laidre and her colleagues suggests that the glacial ice, known as “marine-terminating glaciers,” could&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/with-sea-ice-melting-glacial-ice-could-be-a-lifeline-for-polar-bears/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>China-funded dam could disrupt key Argentine glaciers and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/china-funded-dam-could-disrupt-key-argentine-glaciers-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/china-funded-dam-could-disrupt-key-argentine-glaciers-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2022 07:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/11173453/FEATURE-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255734</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Argentina, Latin America, Patagonia, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Glaciers, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Lakes, Protected Areas, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A hydroelectric dam complex in southern Argentina, one of the country’s largest energy projects, is facing backlash from conservationists and Indigenous communities who are worried about its impact on the surrounding glaciers. The mega project, which includes the Néstor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic dams, is expected to supply around 5% of Argentina’s national energy needs. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A hydroelectric dam complex in southern Argentina, one of the country’s largest energy projects, is facing backlash from conservationists and Indigenous communities who are worried about its impact on the surrounding glaciers. The mega project, which includes the Néstor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic dams, is expected to supply around 5% of Argentina’s national energy needs. But it may also flood vital wetlands, disrupt the trajectory of some of the world’s largest glaciers found outside of the poles, and destroy ancestral Mapuche land. Despite protests, lawsuits and court orders to pause construction so that adequate environmental studies can be carried out, work on the complex has continued, often to the bewilderment of conservationists. Early construction designs of the dam complex. (Photo courtesy of Ministry of Energy and Mining) “The authorities know the laws. They know how this should work,” Cristian Fernández of the Forest Bank Foundation for Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, one of the organizations fighting the project in court, told Mongabay. The organizations Aves Argentinas and Vida Silvestre have also been involved in the judicial process. “The problem is that they don’t care,” Fernández added. “They don’t care because they want to move forward on the project at all costs.” Glaciers, rivers and migratory habitats The dams are being built on the 380-kilometer (236-mile) Santa Cruz River, the largest waterway in southern Argentina. The river starts in the Andes mountains and passes through Santa Cruz province before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean, filling two lakes along the way. There&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/china-funded-dam-could-disrupt-key-argentine-glaciers-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255734</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As climate change melts Antarctic ice, gentoo penguins venture further south</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/as-climate-change-melts-antarctic-ice-gentoo-penguins-venture-further-south/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/as-climate-change-melts-antarctic-ice-gentoo-penguins-venture-further-south/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2022 15:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/01/21140808/GP1SWT3L_Medium_res-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Arctic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Glaciers, Global Environmental Crisis, Ice Shelves, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Penguins, Sea Ice, Species, Species Discovery, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The crew of the M/V Arctic Sunrise, an icebreaker vessel owned by Greenpeace, were sailing through Antarctica’s Weddell Sea this month when they saw something they didn’t expect. “One of the scientists on board, Alex Borowicz … was looking through the binoculars from the bridge of our ship,” Louisa Casson, an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The crew of the M/V Arctic Sunrise, an icebreaker vessel owned by Greenpeace, were sailing through Antarctica’s Weddell Sea this month when they saw something they didn’t expect. “One of the scientists on board, Alex Borowicz … was looking through the binoculars from the bridge of our ship,” Louisa Casson, an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace UK currently on board the Arctic Sunrise, told Mongabay in a video interview. “He spotted what he thought looked like a penguin colony, where we had seen no previous records.” As the ship drew near, the crew discovered a colony of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) consisting of about 75 chicks living on Andersson Island on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula, previously unknown to science. Scientists say this is the furthest south the species has ever been seen in this part of Antarctica, and posit their presence here to the impacts of climate change. Researchers just discovered a new colony of gentoo penguins on Andersson Island on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Image © Tomás Munita / Greenpeace. “It&#8217;s may be a cliché at this point, but they’re the canary in the coal mine for climate change because they&#8217;re so closely tied to those sea ice conditions,” Heather Lynch, an Antarctic penguin expert at Stony Brook University in New York and the remote leader of the expedition, told Mongabay in a video interview. Gentoo penguins are generally found across the sub-Antarctic region, with the largest colonies on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/as-climate-change-melts-antarctic-ice-gentoo-penguins-venture-further-south/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/as-climate-change-melts-antarctic-ice-gentoo-penguins-venture-further-south/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As its glaciers melt, Nepal is forced into an adaptation not of its choosing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/as-its-glaciers-melt-nepal-is-forced-into-an-adaptation-not-of-its-choosing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/as-its-glaciers-melt-nepal-is-forced-into-an-adaptation-not-of-its-choosing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Dec 2021 04:48:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Johan Augustin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/23185252/Glacier003_web-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251080</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Disasters, Ecosystems, Freshwater, Glaciers, Mountains, Rivers, Subsistence Agriculture, Tourism, Traditional Knowledge, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Life is different now,” says Chhireng Tamang, 75. She has lived her whole life in Langtang National Park, in northeastern Nepal. The area, famous for its trekking trails through pristine forests and river valleys, is surrounded by snowcapped mountains and glaciers. However, this scenery is quickly melting away. Literally. Chhireng Tamang says she remembers, not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Life is different now,” says Chhireng Tamang, 75. She has lived her whole life in Langtang National Park, in northeastern Nepal. The area, famous for its trekking trails through pristine forests and river valleys, is surrounded by snowcapped mountains and glaciers. However, this scenery is quickly melting away. Literally. Chhireng Tamang says she remembers, not too long ago, when there was heavy snowfall in the mountains and the glaciers were &#8220;white and big.&#8221; For much of her life it was easy to keep yaks, an animal many rural communities still depend on for wool, milk and meat, along with sheep and horses. But with warming temperatures, the amount of water and fresh grass available for the animals has diminished rapidly. From a herd of 40 yaks, Chhireng Tamang now has just nine. “There is not enough grass to feed them anymore. All the farmers face the same problem,” she says. Many local communities still depend on yaks but it has become increasingly difficult to keep big herds due to a changing climate conditions. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay Retreat of the glaciers The outlook for the Himalayan glaciers is bleak. It took more than 70 million years for them to form, and in just the last five decades they’ve receded rapidly. If global greenhouse gas emissions continue on a business-as-usual trajectory and average global temperatures rise by more than 4° Celsius (7.2° Fahrenheit) by 2100, the Himalayan region could lose up to two-thirds of its glaciers, according to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/as-its-glaciers-melt-nepal-is-forced-into-an-adaptation-not-of-its-choosing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/as-its-glaciers-melt-nepal-is-forced-into-an-adaptation-not-of-its-choosing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251080</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Earth tipping points could destabilize each other in domino effect: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/earth-tipping-points-could-destabilize-each-other-in-domino-effect-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/earth-tipping-points-could-destabilize-each-other-in-domino-effect-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2021 11:39:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/23112454/greenland_04_3x2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=244013</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Science, and Tipping points]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the first tile in a line of dominoes tips forward, it affects everything in front of it. One after another, lined-up dominoes knock into each other and topple. This is essentially what could happen to ice sheets, ocean currents and even the Amazon biome if critical tipping points are crossed, according to a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the first tile in a line of dominoes tips forward, it affects everything in front of it. One after another, lined-up dominoes knock into each other and topple. This is essentially what could happen to ice sheets, ocean currents and even the Amazon biome if critical tipping points are crossed, according to a new risk analysis. The destabilization of one element could impact the others, creating a domino effect of drastic changes that could move the Earth into an unfamiliar state — one potentially dangerous to the future of humanity and nature as we know it. The study, published this month in Earth System Dynamics, examines the interactions between five subsystems that are known to have vital thresholds, or tipping points, that could trigger irreversible changes. They include the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Amazon Rainforest. Scientists believe the AMOC could reach its critical threshold when warming temperatures weaken the current enough to substantially slow it, halt it, or redirect it, which could plunge parts of the northern hemisphere into a period of record cold, even as global warming continues elsewhere. Likewise, the Antarctic ice sheet may reach its irreversible threshold when warming temperatures trigger a state of constant ice loss, which could ultimately result in a 4-meter (13-foot) rise in global sea levels over the coming centuries. In fact, it’s suggested that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may have already passed its critical&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/earth-tipping-points-could-destabilize-each-other-in-domino-effect-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-244013</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>We&#8217;re approaching critical climate tipping points: Q&#038;A with Tim Lenton</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/were-approaching-critical-climate-tipping-points-qa-with-tim-lenton/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/were-approaching-critical-climate-tipping-points-qa-with-tim-lenton/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2021 00:08:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/05205856/penguins_in_antarctica_04-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238473</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Antarctica, Global, and Greenland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Coral Reefs, Drought, Ecology, Energy, Environment, Fires, Forests, Glaciers, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Oceans, Renewable Energy, Sea Ice, Tipping points, transforming conservation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past twenty years the concept of &#8220;tipping points&#8221; has become more familiar to the public. Tipping points are critical thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in the state of the entire system. From a climate standpoint, the melting of Arctic sea ice is a simple example. As sea ice [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past twenty years the concept of &#8220;tipping points&#8221; has become more familiar to the public. Tipping points are critical thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in the state of the entire system. From a climate standpoint, the melting of Arctic sea ice is a simple example. As sea ice melts, less sunlight is reflected into space and more heat is absorbed by the ocean, further hindering the formation of sea ice and thereby leading to more warming. The positive feedback loop is leading toward ice-free summers in the Arctic, which will have dramatic implications for the Arctic ecosystem and knock-on effects for ocean circulation and weather patterns. The effects are already being observed, with Arctic sea ice extent trending sharply downward since the 1970s. Glaciers and icebergs in Antarctica. Photo credit: Mongabay Awareness of climate tipping points has grown in policy circles in recent years in no small part thanks to the work of climate scientist Tim Lenton, who serves as the director of the Global Systems Institute at Britain&#8217;s University of Exeter. In 2008 Lenton was the lead author of an influential Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) paper that identified nine tipping points and ranked them by their near-term likelihood of occurring. These included: Arctic Sea-Ice; the Greenland Ice Sheet; the West Antarctic Ice Sheet; the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation; the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO); the Indian Summer Monsoon; the Sahara/Sahel and West African Monsoon; the Amazon Rainforest; and the Boreal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/were-approaching-critical-climate-tipping-points-qa-with-tim-lenton/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/were-approaching-critical-climate-tipping-points-qa-with-tim-lenton/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238473</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet are running away</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/the-glaciers-of-the-greenland-ice-sheet-are-running-away/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/the-glaciers-of-the-greenland-ice-sheet-are-running-away/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2020 12:23:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikk Ogasa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/30132807/Ogasa_Photo_3_header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=237272</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic and Greenland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Environment, Glaciers, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Greenland Ice Sheet is losing mass, and there may be no way to stop it, scientists have concluded. Even if large amounts of snowfall return to the ice sheet, it will continue to shrink, according to new research published in Communications Earth and Environment. The problem appears to lie with Greenland’s glaciers, which deliver [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Greenland Ice Sheet is losing mass, and there may be no way to stop it, scientists have concluded. Even if large amounts of snowfall return to the ice sheet, it will continue to shrink, according to new research published in Communications Earth and Environment. The problem appears to lie with Greenland’s glaciers, which deliver ice from inland areas to the sea. “They’re conveyor belts of ice,” said glaciologist Michalea King of The Ohio State University, first author of the study. “If you look at an aerial image of a glacier, it looks like a long finger of ice that extends off of an ice sheet.” These glaciers act like dams that control how much ice flows into the ocean, said Michael Wood, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA&#8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who was not involved in the study. “What’s happened is that a lot of those dams have burst,” Wood told Mongabay. The new study, he said, shows this process “is fully or mostly responsible for the extra ice flooding into the ocean.” Greenland’s glaciers are discharging more ice than snowfall can make up for. Image credit: Michalea King. As Greenland&#8217;s thick shield of ice melts, it is the single largest contributor to global sea level rise. Between 1992 and 2018 it shed about 3.9 trillion metric tons, raising sea level about 11 millimeters (0.4 inches), a recent study in Nature reported. If the entire ice sheet melted, sea level would soar more than 7 meters (23&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/the-glaciers-of-the-greenland-ice-sheet-are-running-away/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-237272</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>IPCC special report finds oceans and cryosphere changing rapidly due to global warming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/ipcc-special-report-finds-oceans-and-cryosphere-changing-rapidly-due-to-global-warming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/ipcc-special-report-finds-oceans-and-cryosphere-changing-rapidly-due-to-global-warming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2019 16:51:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/25164006/arctic-melt-ponds_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222867</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Ice Shelves, Impact Of Climate Change, Mitigation, Oceans, Research, Sea Ice, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As a massive expanse of unusually warm water spreads across the northeastern Pacific Ocean for the second time in the past five years, the latest special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released today, finds that marine heatwaves have “very likely” become twice as frequent and increasingly intense over the past four [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a massive expanse of unusually warm water spreads across the northeastern Pacific Ocean for the second time in the past five years, the latest special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released today, finds that marine heatwaves have “very likely” become twice as frequent and increasingly intense over the past four decades. The report focuses on the benefits of taking action to limit global warming — and the costs of delaying that action — for the world’s oceans and cryosphere (the parts of Earth&#8217;s surface that are frozen, such as ice sheets and frozen ground). It is the work of more than 100 authors from 36 countries who assessed 7,000 scientific publications to assemble the latest scientific findings on the current and future impacts of global climate change. “The world’s ocean and cryosphere have been ‘taking the heat’ from climate change for decades, and consequences for nature and humanity are sweeping and severe,” Ko Barrett, Vice-Chair of the IPCC, said in a statement. “The rapid changes to the ocean and the frozen parts of our planet are forcing people from coastal cities to remote Arctic communities to fundamentally alter their ways of life.” For instance, as glaciers, snow, ice, and permafrost melt they are increasing the risks to the 670 million humans who live in mountainous regions from avalanches, floods, landslides, and rockfalls. According to the report, if we don’t rein in our greenhouse gas emissions, small glaciers in eastern Africa, the tropical Andes, Europe, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/ipcc-special-report-finds-oceans-and-cryosphere-changing-rapidly-due-to-global-warming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222867</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More than 50 lakes lie hidden beneath Greenland ice sheet, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/more-than-50-lakes-lie-hidden-beneath-greenland-ice-sheet-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/more-than-50-lakes-lie-hidden-beneath-greenland-ice-sheet-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2019 11:30:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/28090715/meltwater-greenland-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219918</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Greenland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[data, Environment, Glaciers, Lakes, Remote Sensing, Research, Sea Ice, Technology, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Until recently, researchers knew of four lakes lying hidden underneath the Greenland ice sheet. Now, scientists say they’ve identified 56 more, bringing the total to 60 known subglacial lakes beneath the thick ice mass. While some of these lakes are just 200 meters (650 feet) long, some span nearly 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in length, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Until recently, researchers knew of four lakes lying hidden underneath the Greenland ice sheet. Now, scientists say they’ve identified 56 more, bringing the total to 60 known subglacial lakes beneath the thick ice mass. While some of these lakes are just 200 meters (650 feet) long, some span nearly 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in length, a new study has found. Jade Bowling, lead author of the study and a graduate student at Lancaster University, U.K., and her colleagues analyzed more than 574,000 kilometers (357,000 miles) of radio echo sounding data collected by NASA’s IceBridge program and identified 54 subglacial lakes. To get radio echo sounding data, specially equipped aircraft send radio waves that penetrate thick ice. The signals that come back can be used to interpret a glacier’s internal structure, including pinpointing locations where there might be liquid water. The researchers identified an additional two lakes using another set of elevation model data set called ArcticDEM. “This study has for the first time allowed us to start to build up a picture of where lakes form under the Greenland Ice Sheet,” Bowling said in a statement. “This is important for determining their influence on the wider subglacial hydrological system and ice-flow dynamics, and improving our understanding of the ice sheet’s basal thermal state.” Unlike the lakes under the Greenland ice sheet, subglacial lakes under the Antarctic ice sheet are relatively better known. Researchers have detected more than 400 such lakes to date, the largest being Lake Vostok, which stretches for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/more-than-50-lakes-lie-hidden-beneath-greenland-ice-sheet-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219918</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Here’s how much Antarctica’s melting ice is already contributing to sea level rise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/heres-how-much-antarcticas-melting-ice-is-already-contributing-to-sea-level-rise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/heres-how-much-antarcticas-melting-ice-is-already-contributing-to-sea-level-rise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2018 15:38:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/06/19151244/9_creditIanPotten_1200px-cropped-768x406.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=207568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Ice Shelves, Impact Of Climate Change, Research, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In July of last year, a 5,800-square-kilometer (2,239-square-mile) block of ice broke off of the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica and fell into the Southern Ocean. The newly created iceberg was massive, about the size of the US state of Delaware, but it did not contribute to rising sea levels, as it was already floating [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In July of last year, a 5,800-square-kilometer (2,239-square-mile) block of ice broke off of the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica and fell into the Southern Ocean. The newly created iceberg was massive, about the size of the US state of Delaware, but it did not contribute to rising sea levels, as it was already floating on the ocean’s surface before it became detached from the larger body of ice. But many of the glaciers on the continent are melting, as well, and because they’re on land, the runoff from that melting ice does cause Earth’s sea levels to rise — and we now have one of the most robust estimates ever of just how much that melting glacial ice in the Antarctic is contributing to sea level rise. According to new research, ice-melt in Antarctica has caused global sea levels to rise by as much as 7.6 millimeters since 1992 — and about 40 percent of that, some 3 millimeters, came in just the past five years. That’s the finding of a major climate assessment called the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE), the results of which were published in the journal Nature last week. Andrew Shepherd of the UK’s University of Leeds and Erik Ivins of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US state of California led a team of 84 scientists from 44 international organizations that used 24 different satellite surveys to produce the assessment. There’s enough frozen water stored in Antarctica to raise global sea levels&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/heres-how-much-antarcticas-melting-ice-is-already-contributing-to-sea-level-rise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/heres-how-much-antarcticas-melting-ice-is-already-contributing-to-sea-level-rise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-207568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warmer winters increasing risk of avalanches in the Himalayas, studies find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/warmer-winters-increasing-risk-of-avalanches-in-the-himalayas-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/warmer-winters-increasing-risk-of-avalanches-in-the-himalayas-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2018 05:18:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Neha Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/04042818/Himalayas-near-Tso-Moriri-Lake-Ladakh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=206399</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Green, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Winters in the Himalayas are getting warmer, which is increasing the risk of avalanches, two new studies suggest. The Himalayas, a massive 2,500-kilometre (1,553-mile) arc-shaped stretch of lofty mountains straddling Pakistan, China, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, are home to the largest concentration of glaciers outside of the poles. So far, monitoring the trends and effects [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Winters in the Himalayas are getting warmer, which is increasing the risk of avalanches, two new studies suggest. The Himalayas, a massive 2,500-kilometre (1,553-mile) arc-shaped stretch of lofty mountains straddling Pakistan, China, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, are home to the largest concentration of glaciers outside of the poles. So far, monitoring the trends and effects of changing climate in the Himalayas has been challenging because of the high altitudes and rugged terrain. Now, with the help of mountain-top observatories, Harendra Singh Negi of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) in Chandigarh, India, and his team have analysed trends in winter (November-April) temperature and precipitation in the northwestern Himalayas and Karakoram from 1991 to 2015. Over this 25-year period, winters in the northwestern Himalayas have become warmer and wetter with less snowfall, the researchers report in a study published in Current Science. This warming has increased the risk of wet avalanches in the western Indian Himalayas, a team of Swiss researchers who are examining tree-ring growth abnormalities, report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. View of a snow avalanche slope in the studied area. Image by Juan Antonio Ballesteros-Cánovas. Warmer and wetter winters To find out how temperatures have been changing in the Himalayas, Negi&#8217;s team collected data from “a network of observatories” established by SASE on mountain-tops ranging between 2,000 to 6,000 metres (6,562 to 19,685 feet). Compared with other studies that use indirect satellite-driven data or models, these observatories, Negi said, contain “precious data” that “reflect the true picture” of climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/warmer-winters-increasing-risk-of-avalanches-in-the-himalayas-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-206399</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top Argentine glacier scientist charged over cyanide mine spill</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/top-argentine-glacier-scientist-charged-over-cyanide-mine-spill/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/top-argentine-glacier-scientist-charged-over-cyanide-mine-spill/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Dec 2017 12:29:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Max Nathanson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/12/14122032/FEATURED-2-gla-768x457.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202133</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Glaciers, Gold Mining, Mining, Pollution, Research, Social Justice, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Prominent government glacier researcher and four former Argentine environment secretaries charged with negligence in glacier studies that allegedly resulted in mine toxic spills.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Perito Moreno glacier in Argentinean Patagonia. Ricardo Villalba, former Director of the Argentinean Institute of Snow, Ice, and Environmental Research (IANIGLA), helped draft an Argentine law that created mining “no go zones” in glacial areas. Photo by Max Nathanson On 27 November, Ricardo Villalba, former Director of the Argentinean Institute of Snow, Ice, and Environmental Research (IANIGLA), was indicted in federal court and charged with negligence and failing to correctly inventory the country’s glaciers. In addition, three former Environment Secretaries (Omar Judis, Sergio Lorusso, and Juan José Mussi), were indicted for their roles in overseeing the National Glacier Inventory (NGI). The four men have appealed the “abuse of authority” charges and a federal court will rule this week on whether their cases will go to trial. The presiding judge has authorized the seizure of their assets up to 5 million pesos (US$289,000) each; all are barred from leaving the country. Asamblea Jáchal No Se Toca (“Don’t Touch the Jáchal”), an NGO in Northwest Argentina’s San Juan province, brought the legal action. It alleges that contamination of the Jáchal River, stemming from toxic cyanide spills at the Veladero mine in 2015 and 2016, could have been avoided through a more thorough glacier inventory, assessing ice bodies smaller than one hectare. The inventory, if done properly, plaintiffs state, would have disallowed mining in the area, according to National Law 26,639 for the Preservation of Glaciers and the Periglacial Environment, a law which the accused, Ricardo Villalba, helped create. The Veladero open-pit&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/top-argentine-glacier-scientist-charged-over-cyanide-mine-spill/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tipping point already reached? West Antarctica in slow-motion, unstoppable melt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/tipping-point-already-reached-west-antarctica-in-slow-motion-unstoppable-melt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/tipping-point-already-reached-west-antarctica-in-slow-motion-unstoppable-melt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2014 16:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/05/tipping-point-already-reached-west-antarctica-in-slow-motion-unstoppable-melt/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Glaciers, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Ice Shelves, Impact Of Climate Change, Sea Levels, and Tipping points]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Two hundred years from now, the planet could look very different. This week two landmark studies revealed that West Antarctica&#8217;s ice sheet is in a state of seemingly inevitable collapse linked to climate change. The slow-motion collapse would by itself eventually lead to a rise in global levels of 3.6-4.5 meters (12-15 feet), overrunning many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Two hundred years from now, the planet could look very different. This week two landmark studies revealed that West Antarctica&#8217;s ice sheet is in a state of seemingly inevitable collapse linked to climate change. The slow-motion collapse would by itself eventually lead to a rise in global levels of 3.6-4.5 meters (12-15 feet), overrunning many of the world&#8217;s islands, low-lying areas, and coastal cities. The only silver lining is that scientists conservatively estimate that the collapse could take 200-1,000 years. &#8220;There&#8217;s been a lot of speculation about the stability of marine ice sheets, and many scientists suspected that this kind of behavior is under way,&#8221; said Ian Joughin, a glaciologist with the University of Wisconsin, who co-authored a study in Science focusing on a key glacier in the region, Thwaites Glacier. The team found that Thwaites Glacier is in a state of rapid retreat, which likely cannot be halted. By itself, the Thwaites Glacier would raise global sea levels by almost 2 feet; however, the Thwaites Glacier is also the stop gap to the much larger West Antarctica ice sheet. Once the Thwaites Glacier is gone, nothing will prevent the full ice sheet from melting, according to researchers, adding another 10-13 feet. A high-resolution map of Thwaites Glacier&#8217;s thinning ice shelf. Warm water, driven by stronger winds, is cutting into the bottom of the floating shelf on the glacier. Scientists now believe the glacier&#8217;s melt is inevitable. Map by: David Shean/University of Washington. Moreover these estimates only account for Western&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/tipping-point-already-reached-west-antarctica-in-slow-motion-unstoppable-melt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25244</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plants re-grow after five centuries under the ice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/plants-re-grow-after-five-centuries-under-the-ice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/plants-re-grow-after-five-centuries-under-the-ice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2013 19:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tanya Dimitrova]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/plants-re-grow-after-five-centuries-under-the-ice/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Greenland and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Botany, Climate Change, Environment, Extinction, Glaciers, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Plants, and Strange]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While monitoring the retreat of the Teardrop Glacier in the Canadian Arctic, scientists have found that recently unfrozen plants, some of which had been under ice since the reign of Henry VIII, were capable of new growth. While in the field, the researchers from the University of Alberta discovered that the receding ice&#8211;which has doubled [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While monitoring the retreat of the Teardrop Glacier in the Canadian Arctic, scientists have found that recently unfrozen plants, some of which had been under ice since the reign of Henry VIII, were capable of new growth. While in the field, the researchers from the University of Alberta discovered that the receding ice&#8211;which has doubled from 2 meters per year in the 1990s to 4.1 meters per year in 2009&#8211;had uncovered lots of mosses and other non-vascular plants, including more than 60 plant species. Upon careful examination, the scientists were impressed by how well preserved the delicate bodies were; the stems and leaf structures were perfectly intact, although some of them were only one-cell layer think. Using radiocarbon dating, they determined that those plants have been frozen for 500 years since the Little Ice Age when the glacier was at its maximum. The most surprising thing, however, was that many of the plants were showing signs of life: they had green tips and fresh off-shoots, even though they have only been ice-free for less than a year and were just a few centimeters away from the glacier margin. In vitro culture of Aulacomnium turgidum regenerated from emergent Little Ice Age population beneath the Tear Drop Glacier, Sverdrup Pass, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Credit: Image courtesy of Catherine La Farge. Plants have long been reported to emerge from beneath Arctic glacier ice. One study from 1966 stated that “vigorous new moss shoots appear in places to be growing  directly out of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/plants-re-grow-after-five-centuries-under-the-ice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28950</doi>				</item>
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