ClimateAugust 27, 2026

moraine

muh-RAIN

Definition

An accumulation of earth, stones, and debris carried and deposited by a glacier.

Etymology

Derived from the French word 'moraine' (originally meaning a heap or pile), which likely comes from a Savoyard dialect term related to the word 'morra', meaning a pile of stones or a mound.

In the news

In this article, moraines are described as land features that were once stabilized by permafrost but have become saturated and unstable due to climate-driven glacial retreat, contributing to catastrophic floods.

The day after catastrophic flash flood, Nepal contemplates enormous cost of climate change

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