Ways of Ice

Why is glacier ice sometimes a brilliant blue? Where does a glacier flow the fastest? And why are some of Antarctica’s largest glaciers so vulnerable to climate change? In this episode, we set out on an imaginary hike from a glacier’s terminus into its high accumulation zone, stopping along the way to answer these questions. As we go, we discover that the geometry of ice controls far more than its...

In Episode 3 of Ways of Ice , we confront a central contradiction: how can ice be brittle as glass yet flow like honey? The episode explores the hidden mechanics of glacier movement, from basal sliding and regelation, to the historic 1840s rivalry between Louis Agassiz and James David Forbes over whether ice expands or flows. The physical paradox is ultimately solved in the 1950s by John Glen and...

In Episode 2 of Ways of Ice , we explore one of the central paradoxes of glaciology: glaciers can grow and melt at the same time. Through the concepts of accumulation, ablation, and mass balance, this episode explains how glaciers respond to climate and why glacier health cannot be understood through temperature alone. Along the way, we investigate why glaciers exist in places that are often warm,...

In the first episode of Ways of Ice , we begin with one of the great polar expeditions: Fridtjof Nansen’s daring 1888 crossing of Greenland. From that story, we confront a deceptively simple question: how much ice is there on Earth? Exploring glaciers from mountain valleys to continental ice sheets, this episode reveals the astonishing scale of Earth’s ice and why even small changes to it can resh...