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Justine Caillet receives the André Prudhomme Prize for her doctoral research on Antarctica and sea-level rise

Published on August 24, 2026

Justine Caillet received the André Prudhomme Prize, awarded each year to the best doctoral thesis in the field of atmospheric and climate sciences. Justine conducted her PhD research at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) and Université Grenoble Alpes, and defended her thesis on 5 July 2024. Her research has improved estimates of the contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to sea-level rise from the 19th to the 21st century, as well as our understanding of its links with human (…)

Saharan dust accelerates the melting of Alpine glaciers

Published on August 21, 2026

Global warming is the main cause of the disappearance of Alpine glaciers. But another, much more discreet phenomenon is also contributing to accelerating their melt : mineral dust carried by winds from the Sahara. After travelling thousands of kilometres, these particles settle on snow and ice, darkening their surface. Snow albedo decreases : it reflects less solar radiation, absorbs more energy, and melts more quickly.
A study conducted on the Argentière Glacier, in the Mont Blanc massif, (…)

In Madagascar, a new step in hydrology training to address climate challenges

Published on August 20, 2026

From 4 to 8 May 2026, the Radioisotopes Laboratory (LRI, University of Antananarivo) hosted the second edition of the thematic school “Hydrology, Critical Zone for Sustainable Water Resources Management”, co-organised with the Institute of Environmental Geosciences of Grenoble (IGE-OSUG, CNRS/IRD/UGA/INRAE/Grenoble INP-UGA) and funded by Labex OSUG. Intended for Master’s students, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and Malagasy professionals working in laboratories, ministries, (…)

An interdisciplinary and international workshop on rockfall mitigation

Published on August 20, 2026

Rocexs 2026, the 8th Interdisciplinary Workshop on Rockfall Protection was held on the campus site of Grenoble, from the 7 to 9 July 2026. It was organized by IGE-INRAE with the help of rockfall experts from four French public institutions, namely, Université Eiffel, BRGM, ONF-RTM and Cerema.
In line with the previous editions organized in different countries, Rocexs 2026 brought together academics, researchers, managers and engineers to share recent findings and improvements, new (…)

New map of landscape beneath Antarctica reveals undiscovered hills and mountain ranges

Published on February 05, 2026

A continent we cannot see
We know less about the landscape hidden beneath the ice of Antarctica than we do about the landscapes of Mercury, Venus and Mars. But understanding the distribution of hills and plains beneath the ice is crucial for ice-sheet models, which are used to produce forecasts of how melting ice will contribute to sea-level rise in the future.
Traditionally, scientists have used ice-penetrating radars to look beneath the ice, either towed behind a snowmobile or attached (…)

Many densely populated regions likely to become drier during the 21st century

Published on January 27, 2026

Climate change and aridity : a threatened balance for vulnerable areas
About one-third of the world’s population lives in drylands, regions where water is naturally limited. Climate change is not only increasing temperatures, but also altering rainfall patterns. These two phenomena are altering the balance between available water and the water needed for ecosystems, agriculture, and human societies to function. In arid areas, this balance is particularly delicate due to the already high (…)

When Antarctic icebergs get stuck on the seabed : why it matters for climate

Published on January 15, 2026

Slider image credits : Anna Olivé Abelló
Antarctic icebergs are huge ice blocks that break off from glaciers and floating ice shelves and drift through the Southern Ocean. As these icebergs melt and release freshwater, they modify the global ocean circulation and therefore the global climate.
Icebergs also transport sediments and nutrients that fertilise the Southern Ocean, support phytoplankton growth, and indirectly help remove carbon dioxide locally from the atmosphere, playing thus (…)

Listening to glaciers to monitor their (in)stability

Published on January 07, 2026

Credit slider photo : E. Le Cornec
From slow motion to sudden acceleration
Based on unique measurements made over several years, an international group of scientists documented in a new study the speedup of an Arctic glacier, from a few meters per year up to almost a hundred meters per year, and identified the underlying mechanism. For the first time, they directly observed how climate change can trigger a transition from stable to unstable glacier flow, previously thought to be (…)

Uncovering Earth’s Oldest Ice : final Antarctic Campaign of Beyond EPICA Begins

Published on December 15, 2025

The fifth and final drilling campaign of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project has just begun in Antarctica. At the remote field site of Little Dome C, 3,200 metres above sea level and with temperatures around –35°C, an international team of 15 scientists and logistics experts is engaged in drilling through the bedrock beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and retrieving duplicate ice samples collected during the previous season. These samples contain information on past climate conditions going back more than 1.2 million years. The project, led by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), is one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings in the field of palaeoclimatology

Avalanches are of key importance to glaciers worldwide

Published on November 27, 2025

Article originally published on the WSL website
An international research team has shown that avalanches are essential to the survival of many glaciers around the world. The study should enable better forecasting of water resources and natural hazards in the context of global warming.
A glaciology team led by WSL has estimated for the first time how much avalanches contribute to the ice mass balance* of all 200,000 glaciers on Earth. In the Alps, 11% of glacier snow comes from (…)