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(LONDON) — What was once considered the most stable glacier in the Patagonia region is experiencing ice loss at rates far greater than previously thought, according to new research.

The Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina has retreated far more rapidly than expected in the past several years, according to a paper published Thursday in Communications Earth & Environment.

The glacier, measuring about 18.6 miles long, has retreated nearly half a mile in some areas over the past few years and could retreat by more than a mile in the near future, the study found. It is fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in the Andes Mountains and terminates in Lago Argentino.

Previously painted as a glacier that “prevails in a changing climate,” researchers began closely studying Perito Moreno to compare it to other, less-stable glaciers, Moritz Koch, a researcher at the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, and lead author of the study, told ABC News.

The scientists were left “baffled” over the unprecedented surface lowering rates seen at Perito Moreno, Koch said.

Perito Moreno remained relatively stable between 2000 and 2019, unlike most of the glaciers fed by the Patagonian Ice Fields. During that time frame, the glacier retreated about 328 feet, the researchers said.

But there has been a “substantial” increase in the rate of retreat since 2019, according to the paper.

“We do see that the stability of the glacier has come to an end, and it has, well, surpassed a tipping point,” Koch said. “That’s why we see this retreat happening.”

During two helicopter flights in 2022, researchers used radar to survey the thickness of the ice. They then combined that data with a survey of the lakebed beyond the glacier to investigate differences in the surface height and surface velocity of the glacier between 2000 and 2024.

In recent years, there has been more than a 16-fold increase in the thinning rate of the glacier at the terminus — where the glacier is currently grounded on in the water — from about 1 foot between 2000 and 2019 to an average of 18 feet between 2019 and 2024, the researchers found.

“This specific feature has stabilized the glacier over past decades, basically acting as a pinning point,” Koch said.

A large ridge beneath the terminus may have been responsible for the glacier’s stability before 2019.

Perito Moreno was like “climatically” out of balance on the surface, but kept physically in its position due to the bedrock ridge, Koch said.

But if the glacier continues to thin at the current rate, it will detach from the ridge and rapidly retreat, according to the paper. The increased water depth below the glacier would lead to an increased rate of calving.

As the frontal position changes in the glacial troughs to the north and east of Perito Moreno, the additional water surrounding the glacier is able to destabilize it and make it buoyant — causing a feedback loop of melting, Koch said.

“So, eventually, the water is able to lift up the glacier from its bed, and this facilitates this very strong calving activity that we are seeing right now,” he said.

As one of the most famous glaciers in the world, the Perito Moreno Glacier is a major tourist destination in Argentina and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

“It’s a very important economic factor for the region,” Koch said.

Climate change is likely playing a significant role in the ice loss of glaciers in the Patagonia region, Koch said.

“We do see a gradual increase in temperatures in the past decade, so warming definitely plays a substantial role in why glaciers are melting on the surface,’ he said.

Glaciers all over the world are at risk of significant ice loss due to global warming, according to scientists.

Between 2000 and 2023, glaciers lost an estimated 7,211 billion tons of ice, equating to an average annual loss of 301 billion tons, according to study published in Nature in February.

In the past two decades, the rate of ice loss has increased by about 36% in the past two decades, the researchers found.

Even if temperatures were to stabilize at current levels, glaciers around the world will likely lose at least 39% of mass, according to the World Economic Forum.

Melting glaciers and ice sheets are significant contributors to sea level rise. If all of the glaciers on Earth were to melt, it would contribute to an additional 230 feet of ocean water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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(LONDON and TEL AVIV) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with his security cabinet on Thursday, an Israeli official said, as he considers plans to occupy the Gaza Strip despite international condemnation of the deteriorating humanitarian situation there.

Netanyahu is expected to ask the cabinet to approve plans for the Isreal Defense Forces to gradually seize Gaza City, the largest city in the territory, the Israeli official told ABC News.

The cabinet is expected to meet at about 6 p.m. local time, or 11 a.m. ET, the source said.

Two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News earlier this week that Netanyahu had decided to propose that the IDF move forward with a plan to fully conquer and occupy the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu held a three-hour limited security cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the matter was discussed, according to a readout from the prime minister’s office.

“The IDF is prepared to implement any decision made by the Political-Security Cabinet,” the readout said.

On Sunday, an Israeli official told ABC News that Netanyahu was pushing to expand the military operation in Gaza on the grounds that he felt Hamas is not interested in reaching a new deal under which surviving hostages could be released.

When asked about the possible expansion of the campaign in Gaza, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday, “Reporting is one thing. Real plans might be another. We are not in the business of interpreting statements from foreign governments when and if they’re made.”

“We do remain focused on freeing the hostages, including the remains of two Americans, and ensuring that Hamas never rules Gaza again,” Bruce said.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday ahead of expected talks, the Kremlin said in a short statement.

The meeting between Putin and Witkoff ended after around three hours, according to Russian state media.

Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, told reporters that the meeting was “a very useful and constructive conversation,” in comments reported by Russia’s Tass state news agency.

The two main topics discussed were “the Ukrainian crisis” and “the prospect of possible development of strategic cooperation between the United States and Russia,” Ushakov said.

“On our part, in particular on the Ukrainian issue, some signals were transmitted,” Ushakov said. “The corresponding signals were received from President Trump. Now the situation is such that our president has complete information — that is, our signals, the signals from President Trump — and the results of these conversations have not yet been reported to Trump.”

“Therefore, I would refrain from more detailed comments,” Ushakov said. “Let’s see when Witkoff will be able to report to Trump about the conversation that took place today. After that, obviously, we will be able to add my comments to something more substantial.”

Witkoff was met on his arrival in Moscow by Kirill Dmitriev — the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund — at the capital’s Vnukovo Airport, according to state media agencies Tass and Interfax.

The visit is Witkoff’s fifth to Moscow since Trump took office, with the special envoy at the forefront of White House efforts to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

A source familiar with Witkoff’s plans told ABC News on Tuesday that the special envoy was expected to hold meetings with Russian leadership on Wednesday.

Tass reported that Witkoff and Dmitriev walked in the Zaryadye Park in central Moscow before Witkoff’s convoy traveled to the Kremlin.

Witkoff was last in Moscow on Apr. 25, when he met with Russian Putin at the Kremlin.

Last month, Trump said he would impose additional economic measures — including secondary sanctions on Russian fossil fuel export customers, the largest of which are India and China — if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire by Aug. 8.

Trump cited Russia’s continued drone and missile strikes on Ukraine when issuing his ultimatum to the Kremlin, which was initially set at 50 days but later shortened to only 10 days. In July, Russia set a new monthly record for long-range attacks on Ukraine, per data from the Ukrainian air force, firing 6,443 drones and missiles into the country.

Ukraine is backing the U.S. demand for an immediate ceasefire, after which negotiations as to a full peace deal can take place. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he “coordinated” positions with Trump in a phone conversation.

“Today, we coordinated our positions — Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to X. “We exchanged assessments of the situation: The Russians have intensified the brutality of their attacks. President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities.”

On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to more meetings with Witkoff. “The dialogue continues and the United States continues its efforts to mediate in the search for a Ukrainian settlement,” he said, as quoted by Tass.

“These efforts are very important, including in the context of the ongoing process of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations,” Peskov said. “Work is continuing, and we remain committed to the idea that a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian problem is, of course, our preferred option.”

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Shannon K. Kingston, Yuriy Zaliznyak and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

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(TOKYO) — The atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki three days later brought a scale of destruction the world had never seen. Many who survived the blasts died in the weeks, months and years that followed. Japan surrendered six days after the Nagasaki bombing, bringing an end to World War II.

Today, the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella. More than 50,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan. The country has fired almost no shots in anger in eight decades.

But that postwar identity is shifting.

The Japanese constitution, drafted during the U.S. occupation, renounces war as a means of settling disputes. Japan hasn’t revised that pacifist charter. But the space around it has changed. Many here now perceive real and growing threats. Topics that were politically untouchable a decade ago are now freely debated.

Conflicts no longer seem regional but interconnected. North Korea, now a front-line participant in the war in Ukraine, continues to launch missiles in defiance of sanctions. China tests boundaries and dares others to push back.

In recent years, Japan has asserted itself more openly, sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait in 2024 and dispatching a prime minister to Ukraine for face-to-face talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023 — the first time a Japanese prime minister has visited an active combat zone since World War II.

Leading up to this year’s anniversary, the tone has shifted from remembrance to readiness. “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” said former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during that 2023 visit.

Earlier this year, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Tokyo, where, according to Reuters, the two sides agreed to accelerate co-production of missile systems. Japan also pledged to expand joint operations and upgrade its Self-Defense Forces’ command structure to better align with U.S. forces.

Current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba affirmed the shared U.S.-Japan vision for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

Japan now participates in multinational drills near flashpoints. It provides naval support to the Philippines. It seeks better ties with South Korea.

But rearmament takes money, and public support for a bigger military budget remains uncertain.

One group has stayed firmly opposed to nuclear weapons, Nihon Hidankyo, formed in 1956 representing survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2024, it received the Nobel Peace Prize for decades of testimony and efforts to persuade governments to disarm.

“We atomic bomb survivors call on all countries to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons for peace,” reads a flyer distributed by the group.

In Japan, survivors are known as hibakusha. They became symbols of peace, a living reminder of what must never happen again. Now, there are fewer of them, but they are still speaking out.

Tomoko Matsuo was 12 years old when the bomb fell on Nagasaki. She was at home on summer break, less than 2 miles from the hypocenter, the area directly underneath where the bomb exploded. A hill, she says, may have blocked the worst of the blast and saved her life.

“I was working on the sewing machine when I heard a huge sound,” she told ABC News in Nagasaki on June 27. “It was enormous and unforgettable.” She ran to a nearby bomb shelter. When she emerged, her house was still standing. Nagasaki was ablaze.

They searched for her older sister Eiko, who was 16. “It was a sea of flames. We gave up the search.” Two days after the bombing, Eiko returned.

“I can’t imagine how she made it home,” Matsuo says.

Eiko was burned. She couldn’t keep food down. There was no proper medical care. “We spoke encouraging words to her. It’s painful to think of that.” They took her to a nearby aid station, gave her water, tried a blood transfusion from her brother. But she died soon after.

“This young life was lost. It’s unbearable. She wanted to see her family, and she worked enormously hard to come home.”

Now 92, Matsuo tells her story to keep Eiko’s memory alive. But the chance of nuclear weapons never being used again is far from certain.

Kazuko Hikawa, Vice Director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University, says the goal may be harder to reach than many realize. The problem, she says, is something called the security paradox.

“Countries chase nuclear weapons thinking it will stop others from attacking them with nuclear weapons,” she tells ABC News. “Nuclear deterrence may prevent nuclear war, but it actually increases the risk of conflict involving conventional weapons, as seen in Ukraine and Palestine. These are not nuclear wars, but they happen under the shadow of nuclear power.”

In 2015, ABC News met a Hiroshima survivor, Sunao Tsuboi, who has since passed away.

U.S. Ambassador George Glass attended the memorial ceremonies in Hiroshima and and will also attend the ceremony in Nagasaki later this week. His remarks focused on reconciliation and the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance.

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(LONDON) — At least five people died of hunger in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday morning.

A total of 193 people, including 96 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition” in Gaza since the ongoing war began, according to the health ministry.

Israel is under increasing international pressure to facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by nearly two years of conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian militant groups, chief among them Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — a global initiative monitoring hunger with the backing of governments, the U.N. and nongovernmental organizations — warned last week that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza.

Aid distribution in Gaza is being conducted via sites run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating in Gaza in late May. Israel says aid distribution must go through GHF to prevent Hamas seizing aid.

Israel also said it allows the GHF “to operate independently” in the distribution of aid and that troops operate “in proximity” to make sure food is delivered in an “orderly fashion.”

Almost 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while traveling to collect aid in the months since those sites opened, the United Nations said in a statement last week.

ABC News’ Samy Zyara, David Brennan, Somayeh Malekian, Diaa Ostaz and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A search operation is underway in Norway for an award-winning American climate journalist, Alec Luhn, who went missing in bad weather while on a solo hike in the remote Folgefonna National Park.

Luhn, 38, who has worked for The Guardian, The New York Times and The Atlantic, was reported missing on Monday to the Norwegian authorities after he did not appear for a scheduled flight from Bergen to England.

Luhn had been on vacation with his family in the days before he set out on the hike. In England, Luhn lives with his wife, Veronika Silchenko, an Emmy-winning television journalist, who posted on social media urging anyone who may have seen Alec to get in touch.

He set out alone on the hike five days ago, on July 31, from the town of Odda on the northeast edge of the Folgefonna, a wilderness park in western Norway that is home to the country’s third-largest glacier.

Local police told Norway’s public broadcaster NRK that a volunteer search and rescue team, as well as the police, sniffer dogs and drones had renewed the search for Luhn on Tuesday before being called off due to weather conditions.

Bad weather the night before had forced the search with a helicopter to be suspended overnight, local police said.

“The weather started to get really bad around midnight. At that time, it was not reasonable to continue the search up in the mountains,” Tatjana Knappen, an operations manager at Western Police District, told NRK. Knappen said a strong gale was forecast to continue on Tuesday, but it was hoped there would be a possible window for the helicopter to operate.

The search will continue again on Wednesday, police said, according to NRK.

The Norwegian Red Cross said search operations had been ongoing throughout Tuesday. Seven Red Cross volunteers were taking part, it said, noting the search teams were local and familiar with the terrain, describing it as “particularly challenging due to difficult conditions and demanding weather.”

Silchenko said she had last heard from her husband on Thursday afternoon. Luhn sent a photo of himself and said that he was going to try to head towards a hiker’s hut at Holmaskjer on the edge of the glacier, she said. Luhn said he had planned to walk from Holmaskjer to another hut at Breidablikk, and then to Bondhusbreen, during the four-day hike, Silchenko said. But she said it was possible his plans could have changed. It was unclear if he would have attempted to cross the glacier.

Raised in the Midwest, Luhn graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2010 and worked as a foreign correspondent in Moscow for around a decade, primarily for The Guardian and The Telegraph newspapers. He later switched to focus on covering the effects of climate change. Luhn is a Pulitzer Center reporting fellow and currently writes for the Scientific American magazine. Along with a number of awards, Luhn also has two Emmy nominations.

Luhn is an experienced hiker who regularly travels to remote and challenging environments as a reporter, also often spending his vacations seeking out wildernesses, his friends and family said. He has trekked as part of a scientific expedition deep in the wilderness in Alaska and visited the Arctic in both Canada and Russia. He has also worked in conflict zones, including in Ukraine and Somalia.

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(LONDON) — The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula last week has triggered the activity of seven volcanoes in the area, according to the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

The RAS said this is the first time in almost 300 years that seven volcanoes erupted at once in the region. Director of the institute Alexey Ozerov described the situation as an “extremely rare phenomenon that can be described as a parade of volcanic eruptions.”

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck late on July 29 caused several aftershocks, including a magnitude 6 aftershock in the Pacific Ocean near Kamchatka at 6 a.m. local time Tuesday morning, according to the Kamchatka branch of the Unified Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Among those erupting is the Klyuchevskoy Volcano, which the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team reported to be spewing ash on Tuesday.

The earthquake on July 29 has now caused the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula to shift southeastward, according to the local branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Unified Geophysical Service.

The Kamchatka branch of the Federal Research Center “United Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences have calculated the surface of the Earth shifted to the southeast, with the greatest shift occurred in the south of the peninsula reaching almost 2 meters.

The greatest shift occurred in the south of the peninsula, movement that is comparable to the horizontal displacement that resulted from the 2011 earthquake in Japan. Seismologists acknowledge the peninsula has “shifted somewhat more modestly” although they do not specify the exact amount.

The eruptions follow the volcanic activity of the Krasheninnikov Volcano that saw lava flow in the last week for the first time in nearly 600 years. Local officials said the last lava flow was recorded in 1463.

A Russian seismologist told local media that there is a direct connection between last week’s powerful earthquake and increased volcanic activity in Kamchatka.

“We attribute the eruptions to the earthquake, which activated the magmatic foci and provided them with additional energy,” Alexey Ozerov, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told TASS, a state-affiliated media in Russia.

The Krasheninnikov volcano is located less than 150 miles away from the epicenter of the earthquake that struck off the east coast of the Russian peninsula on July 29.

The intense quake was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, and the world’s largest since 2011. It spurred tsunmai warnings from Japan to Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States.

Volcanic activity is common for the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is home to 29 active volcanoes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with three of those currently erupting previously laying dormant according to the RAS

Massive eruptions began at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, prompting the evacuation of personnel in the area, according to the Kronotsky Nature Reserve’s website.

The regional Ministry of Emergency Situations said there are no settlements along the ash plume’s path of the Klyuchevskoy and said there are no registered tourist groups in the volcano’s vicinity.

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(NEW YORK) — Two hikers were rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded on a remote beach in California after rising tides cut off their exit route, police said.

The Marin County Fire Department received a call on Saturday to assist with two stranded hikers who became trapped on the beach near Elephant Rock in the Point Reyes National Seashore, according to a statement from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday. The statement said that rising tides cut off the hiker’s exit route and left them with no safe escape by land or by sea.

Authorities deployed a helicopter to assist in a long-line rescue operation and the vehicle was configured with a 100-foot-long rope before arriving at the scene and securing each hiker into “hot seat” rescue devices designed for aerial extraction.

Henry-1 executed a long line rescue operation. Henry-1 was configured with a 100-ft long line. The Henry-1 Tactical Flight Officer/EMT was inserted to the beach, where they secured each hiker into “hot seat” rescue devices for aerial extraction.

“Both of the hikers were extracted together and delivered to Marin County Fire Department personnel staged nearby,” police said.

Video of the rescue shows authorities descending toward the rocky coastline with crashing waves as the rescuer secures both hikers before the helicopter lifts them into the air and takes them to safety.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

“Thanks to the seamless teamwork between Henry-1 and Marin County Fire, both hikers were safely rescued with no injuries reported,” authorities said. “A great example of multi-agency coordination and skilled execution.”

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(CAIRO) — Hospitals across the Gaza Strip recorded eight deaths — a child among them — “due to famine and malnutrition” over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Tuesday.

At least 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger in Gaza since the ongoing war began, according to the health ministry.

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(LONDON) — A Denmark zoo is asking the public to donate their pets — particularly chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs — so that they can feed them to the zoo’s predators.

“In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals — in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the Aalborg Zoo said in a statement last Thursday.

The request created a backlash online with many disagreeing with the practice, but the zoo said the purpose of the program is to make sure “nothing goes to waste — and [to] ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators,” according to the zoo’s website.

The zoo also said they would accept larger animals, such as horses, which they euthanize and slaughter for food, though they said that the zoo’s needs vary throughout the year and there might be a waiting list.

For horses, Aalborg Zoo receives the horse as a donation and the owner of the horse can obtain a tax deduction for the value of the horse, according to the zoo’s website.

The zoo also said they will “accept chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., but no more than four at a time.”

ABC News has reached out to Aalborg Zoo for comment.

The practice is not unheard of in Denmark and, in 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo garnered attention on social media when it killed a healthy giraffe and fed it to their predators.

Four lions, including two cubs, were also euthanized several weeks later to make room for a new male lion in the Danish zoo. The lions were euthanized for not being able to defend themselves against him, zoo officials said at the time.

“If you have an animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us,” the zoo said. “The animals are gently euthanized by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder.”

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