Fastest glacier melt in modern history

Learning English from the News

2025-11-05

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(Photo via Getty Images) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Download a free worksheet ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The story In late 2022, an Antarctic glacier, named Hektoria, shrunk by nearly 50% in just two months. According to a new study, this was the fastest a glacier has retreated that scientists have recorded in modern history. Retreated means it melted and got smaller.  Hektoria is a type of glacier which rests on the seabed and doesn’t float. Glaciers like this generally retreat only a few hundred metres a year. But between November and December 2022, Hektoria retreated by 8 km, according to the study. Scientists are concerned because if more glaciers like this shrink as quickly, there could be a much faster rise in sea-level. News headlines Antarctic glacier's alarming retreat is the fastest ever seen New Scientist  Antarctic glacier saw the fastest retreat in modern history; it could spell trouble for sea levels, report finds CNN Antarctic glacier's rapid retreat sparks scientific 'whodunnit' BBC News Key words and phrases alarming cause fear or worry  spell trouble cause trouble whodunnit a story about a mystery or a crime  Next  Find all our news programmes. Learn more about the environment in English with this topic page.  Practise your reading skills with The Reading Room.
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  • From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News,

  • our podcast about the news headlines.

  • In this programme, fast is glacier melt in modern history.

  • Hello, I'm Beth and I'm Georgie.

  • In this programme,

  • we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

  • You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode as well as a worksheet on our website bbclearningenglish.com Okay,

  • so let's learn about this story.

  • An Antarctic glacier named Hectoria shrunk by nearly 50% in just two months three years ago.

  • According to a new study,

  • this was the fastest a glacier has retreated that scientists have recorded in modern history.

  • Retreated means melted and got smaller.

  • Hectoria is a type of glacier which rests on the seabed and doesn't float.

  • Glaciers like this generally retreat only a few hundred metres a year.

  • But between November and December 2022,

  • Hectoria retreated by eight kilometres, according to the study.

  • Scientists are concerned because if more glaciers like this shrink as quickly,

  • there could be a much faster rise in sea level.

  • And our first headline is about the glacier shrinking.

  • This is from New Scientist, a scientific magazine.