Resources for the 2025 Science Olympiad challenge in Dynamic Planet: Glaciers
Science Olympiad is a national STEM competition dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing interest and engagement in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by students and teachers. Science Olympiad tournaments emphasize teamwork, problem solving, and hands-on learning practices. For more information about Science Olympiad, visit www.soinc.org offsite link. Here, we share resources from NOAA and our federal partners.
Background information
U.S. National Ice Center
The National Ice Center (NIC) is a partnership between NOAA, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard. NIC offers forecasts, analyses, and monitoring of sea ice, as well as seasonal information.
National Snow and Ice Data Center educational resources offsite link
National Snow and Ice Data Center Educational Resources provides materials for students to investigate and learn about glaciers, ice sheets, and other features of Earth’s cryosphere, as well as a glossary of terms. Resources include an introduction to data from NASA’s Operation IceBridge, offsite link which collects observations from airplanes to monitor changes in glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves through time.
Arctic Report Card
More frequent extreme weather and climate events are transforming the Arctic, yet resiliency and opportunity lie within diverse partnerships.
Monitoring change in Alaska and the Arctic
Climate change in the Arctic and Boreal Region is unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth. Explore how climate impacts glaciers in Alaska and sea ice along Alaskan coasts, as well as the communities of people who live in Alaska.
Abrupt climate change: A paleo perspective
Abrupt climate change is climate change that occurs relatively rapidly. Our understanding of past abrupt climate changes and their causes is still in its infancy; most of the research on this topic has occurred since the early 1990s. However, scientists have made significant progress in identifying and describing various abrupt events of the past and forming hypotheses about their causes.
Glacier National Park: Climate change
This National Park Service page includes a summary of the impacts of climate change on Glacier National Park’s glaciers and how these changes impact water, vegetation, and wildlife within the park. USGS Repeat Photography Project shows how glaciers and associated vegetation have changed over time
USGS Glacier and Climate Project
Explore an overview of USGS efforts to monitor the mass balance of North American glaciers and the changes over time. The glaciers monitored as part of this program are all subject to different climatology, which impacts the patterns in mass balance data for each. Additional information includes a description of how different types of measurements are used.
NASA Landsat education resources
Learn all about Landsat through this collection of educational resources from NASA. Browse beautiful images of Earth’s surface from Landsat in the image gallery by typing “glacier” into the search box at the upper right of the gallery. Find images of glacier changes over time.
NASA Cryospheric Research
Investigate NASA data and projects related to glaciers and ice sheets, including links to satellite missions that monitor the cryosphere and how it changes over time. Explore visualizations of changes in ice sheets and sea level rise related to changes in ice sheets. Be sure to learn about ICESat-2, an important satellite mission for monitoring changes in ice on Earth. ICESat-2 was launched on September 15, 2018 and students can learn more through the “Fun Zone” on the ICESat-2 web site.
Arctic Meteorology and Oceanography Training Course from COMET MetED offsite link
The NOAA-sponsored MetEd program structured education and training resources related to earth science topics at a variety of difficulty levels. Search for courses and training modules on many topics; the Arctic Meteorology and Oceanography course includes a module on sea ice, icebergs, and their climatology.
Polar Geospatial Center Map Collection offsite link
Explore this comprehensive collection of polar maps, browsable by the Arctic and Antarctic. A map of Antarctica offsite link released in September 2018 shows its geography and surface, including its ice shelves offsite link.
Great Lakes ice cover
Understanding the major effect of ice on the Great Lakes is crucial because it impacts a range of societal benefits provided by the lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry. The amount of ice cover varies from year to year, as well as how long it remains on the lakes.
Data resources
Climate change: Mountain glaciers
Among the most dramatic evidence that Earth's climate is warming is the retreat and disappearance of mountain glaciers around the world. Based on preliminary data for 2022/23, 2023 was the 36th year in a row that the reference glaciers tracked by the World Glacier Monitoring Service lost rather than gained ice.
Near-Realtime Arctic Change Indicator website
Glaciers are different from sea ice in that they are regions of fresh water ice on land. Their retreat and loss of volume is an indicator of Arctic change. Annual climatic mass balance was negative at 21 of 24 Arctic glaciers monitored in 2010-2011.
Sea Ice Index daily and monthly image viewer offsite link
The monthly Sea Ice Index provides a quick look at Arctic-wide changes in sea ice. It is a source for consistently processed ice extent and concentration images and data values since 1979.
MASIE-NH Daily Image Viewer offsite link
Use the Multisensor Analyzed Sea Ice Extent - Northern Hemisphere (MASIE-NH) Daily Image Viewer to see where Arctic sea ice is now and how that data compares to the last four years.
Glacier Photograph Collection offsite link
The Glacier Photograph Collection is an online, searchable collection of photographs of glaciers, mostly taken in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Greenland. Photographs were taken from the ground, air, and space. The dates of the photographs range from the mid 1800s to the present day.
Seasonal Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Reconstructions, 1905-2020 offsite link
These data are reconstructed seasonal Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) for 1905 through 2020. They are provided along with uncertainty estimates and metadata that describe aspects of the reconstruction process that produced the SIE data.
Ice Core Data
The World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology maintains archives of ice core data from polar and low-latitude mountain glaciers and ice caps throughout the world. Proxy climate indicators include oxygen isotopes, methane concentrations, dust content, and many other parameters.
Sea Ice Extent (Arctic only) - 1850 - Present
Arctic sea ice extent is declining at a rapid rate; the extent in September, 2019 was about 30% lower than the average September extent over 1980-2010. Sea ice in both hemispheres can be easily monitored now, with data from a series of satellites that have been operating since the late 1970s.
Animation of Historical Great Lakes Ice Cover
NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory ice cover dataset extends from 1973 to present, serving the Great Lakes community in research, application, and management. Large inter-annual and decadal variability are observed, as well as a downward trend.
What is...
What is glacial isostatic adjustment?
Glacial isostatic adjustment is the ongoing movement of land once burdened by ice-age glaciers.
What is ice and snow?
Learn about common phenomena: Sea ice, snow, lake effect snow, nor'easters, and winter weather.
What is the cryosphere?
The cryosphere is the frozen water part of the Earth system.