Snow and Ice Collection

​Beginning in 2012 dozens of mountaineers collected vertical columns of snow from elevations above 15,000ft. These data helped our partner scientist, Natalie Kehrwald at the University of Venice, Italy, study how glaciers are thinning. This work showed that glaciers are melting more quickly than previously predicted. The samples collected from the top surface of the glacier by mountaineers helped demonstrate that glaciers are not only losing mass from their bottom surface (from climate change) but also from the top.

Water melting from glaciers provides drinking water to billions of people worldwide. A better understanding of melting rates better equips governments to plan for adjusting to a changing climate.

Learn more in this Q&A with Dr. Kehrwald.