Rock Glaciers Show Surprising Resistance To Climate Change

A new analysis of landforms in Wyoming’s Teton Range found that rock glaciers may be substantially more resilient to climate warming than ice glaciers and perennial snowfields.

Researchers examined changes from 1967 to 2024 and found that ice glaciers and snowfields experienced a sevenfold increase in thinning rates between 2014 and 2022 compared with the period from 1967 to 2014. Rock glaciers, however, showed no substantial change in thinning rate during the same periods.

The study reported that ice glaciers thinned at a rate of 0.84 meters per year and snowfields at 0.59 meters per year between 2014 and 2022.

Scientists said the debris covering rock glaciers appears to act as an insulating blanket, protecting the ice beneath and helping slow the rate of thinning.

The research also noted that glaciers worldwide lost an estimated 273 gigatons of mass each year from 2000 to 2023 as the Earth warmed due to human activity.

Researchers found that snowfield-fed streams warmed by an average of 3.4 degrees Celsius between 2015 and 2024, while glacier-fed streams did not experience the same level of warming. They cautioned, however, that glacier-fed streams could warm rapidly once a critical amount of ice is lost.

The authors added that while rock glaciers are not immune to climate change, they could help sustain important hydrological and ecological refuges as glaciers and snowfields continue to disappear.