Waterlines: How Water Shapes Our World

About Waterlines: How Water Shapes Our World

✦ Waterlines: How Water Shapes Our World ✦ explores the hidden role of water in shaping our planet, ecosystems, and daily lives. Each episode turns advanced water science into engaging, everyday conversations Designed for curious listeners — no scientific background required — the show features researchers, field stories, and real-world challenges that reveal why water matters more than we think. Whether you’re interested in the environment, climate, or how science connects to society, Waterlines helps you see the world through the lens of water.

Publisher

jaywen

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Feb 2026

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

110 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   Greenland’s Ice Drains: How Giant Moulins Change the Pressure Under an Ice Sheet

   Takeaway: A moulin can act less like a drainpipe and more like a hidden water tank, softening daily pressure pulses under Greenland’s ice. Greenland’s meltwater does not just run across the surface and disappear. In summer, blue rivers plunge into holes in the ice and help decide how much water pressure builds at the bed of the ice sheet, where ice can slide faster toward the ocean. That matters for coastal communities, sea-level planning, and anyone trying to understand how a warming climate changes frozen landscapes from the inside out. In this episode of Waterlines, we explore a study that takes listeners into Greenland’s moulins: steep meltwater shafts that connect the surface of the ice sheet to its hidden drainage system below. Researchers measured water levels inside moulins, modeled how daily melt pulses move through the system, and directly explored two moulins with very different shapes. Their surprising finding: some moulins are far larger than many models have assumed, with storage spaces big enough to dampen daily pressure swings under the ice. We talk through what a moulin is, why subglacial water pressure matters for ice sliding, how a big hole can act like a water tank rather than a simple drainpipe, and why scientists still need many more observations before predicting how future melt will affect Greenland’s motion. We also discuss the field reality of studying these places: pressure sensors lowered into dark shafts, rope-access exploration, uncertainty in models, and the practical stakes for sea-level rise. Full paper citation: Covington, M. D., Gulley, J. D., Trunz, C., Mejia, J., & Gadd, W. (2020). Moulin volumes regulate subglacial water pressure on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2020GL088901. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088901 Disclosure: This episode uses AI-generated voices for the host conversation.

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Greenland’s Cracks That Stay Put: What Crevasses Reveal About Meltwater and Ice Flow

   Takeaway: In Pâkitsoq, Greenland, the cracks mostly stayed put for ten years, but their changing size may shift where summer meltwater reaches the ice sheet’s hidden floor. Greenland’s ice sheet is not just melting at the edges; every summer, water also runs across its surface, finds openings, and may plunge toward the bed far below. That hidden plumbing matters because water at the base can change how fast ice slides toward the ocean. In this episode, we visit Pâkitsoq in central-western Greenland, where researchers used satellite radar and a new deep-learning tool called MimiNet to map crevasse fields year by year from 2015 to 2024. The surprising result: many crevasse fields stayed in the same places for a decade, while their total area grew and shrank from year to year with no clear long-term trend. We talk through what radar “sees,” why crevasses are different from moulins, how AI can help map ice-sheet hazards, and what the uncertainty means for understanding future sea-level rise. Citation: Khan N, Poinar K, Briner J, Nowicki S, Mejia JZ, Avellaneda A and Verné M (2026) Steady crevasse locations in Pâkitsoq, Greenland, over one decade: Results from MimiNet, a new deep-learning model for crevasse detection. Journal of Glaciology 72, e69, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2026.10185 Disclosure: This Waterlines episode package is written for production using AI-generated voices.

3. 

   12 Oct 2026

   When Greenland’s Meltwater Slows the Ice

   Takeaway: A sudden flood under Greenland’s ice can drain hidden water pockets at the bed, making the ice grip harder and slow down even while meltwater keeps flowing. Greenland’s summer melt does more than make rivers on the ice surface; it can change how the whole ice sheet grips the ground below. That matters because the speed of Greenland’s ice helps shape future sea level, coastal planning, and the way climate change shows up far from the Arctic. In this episode, we follow scientists to a moulin—a deep vertical drain in the ice—and listen as a hidden floodwave from draining surface lakes rushes under the ice sheet. The surprise: the flood did not simply carve bigger plumbing and speed things along. It appears to have drained hidden pockets of pressurized water at the bed, helping the ice stick more firmly and slow down to winter-like speeds. We unpack what moulins are, how researchers measure water pressure and ice motion in a dangerous, shifting landscape, and why Greenland may not behave like the smaller mountain glaciers scientists often use as examples. Citation: Mejia, J. Z., Gulley, J. D., Trunz, C., Covington, M. D., Bartholomaus, T. C., Xie, S., & Dixon, T. H. (2021). Isolated cavities dominate Greenland Ice Sheet dynamic response to lake drainage. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL094762. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094762. Disclosure: This Waterlines episode package is written for AI-generated host voices; the voices listeners hear are AI-generated.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings