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Glaciers' Hidden Heartbeat: NASA Study Finds Seasonal 'Pulse' That Intensifies With Warming

08:26 AM, 12/05/2025
Glaciers' Hidden Heartbeat: NASA Study Finds Seasonal 'Pulse' That Intensifies With Warming

NASA JPL researchers Chad Greene and Alex Gardner used 2014–2022 optical and radar satellite data to show that glaciers worldwide exhibit seasonal, pulsating flow patterns. The Nov. 27, 2025 study mapped motion "fingerprints" for over 200,000 glaciers and found that flow tends to increase with each degree of atmospheric warming. Regional timing varies — Arctic glaciers often peak in summer/early fall, while many Alaskan glaciers surge in spring — and changes could accelerate sea-level rise and disrupt freshwater supplies and ecosystems.

Glaciers Reveal a Seasonal "Heartbeat" in New NASA Study

From space, a recent satellite visualization resembles an artery pumping crimson blood or an intricate network of capillaries — but the motion is entirely geological. A Nov. 27, 2025 study by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows that glaciers worldwide exhibit clear, seasonal pulses in flow rather than remaining static.

Study and methods: Chad Greene and Alex Gardner analyzed millions of optical and radar satellite images collected between 2014 and 2022 to track the movement of crevasses and surface debris. By doing so, they assigned a distinct motion "fingerprint" to more than 200,000 glaciers on Earth.

What drives the pulse? As Greene explains, "Glaciers are like rivers of ice that flow down mountains toward the sea." When warm air melts surface ice, meltwater can reach the glacier's base and act as a lubricant, causing the ice to speed up. The study finds these accelerations and slowdowns follow seasonal patterns that vary by region and local conditions.

"Glaciers appear to accelerate and decelerate yearly in response to surface melt, and the data suggest that future atmospheric warming could amplify and alter the timing of seasonal glacier dynamics worldwide." — Greene & Gardner (2025)

Regional timing: In Arctic regions of Russia and Europe, glaciers most often reach peak speeds in summer or early fall. Many Alaskan glaciers tend to accelerate most in spring. The timing and magnitude of pulses depend on climate, topography, and how meltwater reaches the glacier bed.

Why this matters: The researchers report that glacier flow tends to increase with each degree of atmospheric warming. Changes in glacier dynamics affect global sea-level rise, regional ecosystems, ocean circulation, mountain freshwater supplies, local hazard exposure, and cultural practices tied to glaciers.

Signs of these changes are already visible. An October study this year found California's glaciers have shrunk markedly over the past two centuries and could largely disappear between 2050 and 2100 if warming continues. Glaciers elsewhere, including Washington State's North Cascades, are also retreating rapidly.

Takeaway: By "measuring the pulse" of glaciers from space, scientists now have a richer, global dataset to forecast how ice masses will respond to continued warming — and to anticipate the downstream impacts on sea level, water resources, and communities that depend on glacier-fed systems.

"We wanted to check the health of Earth's glaciers, so we measured their pulse. Now we just need to keep an eye on their temperature," Greene said in NASA's coverage of the study.

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