Climate Scientist Lonnie Thompson Dies at 78

The pioneering researcher, who studied melting glaciers for decades, died Monday at his home in Columbus, Ohio.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Environmental

Photograph of a single banded ice core resting on a snow-covered glacier under a clear high-altitude sky, with distant ridges softly blurred. — Ohio State climate scientist Lonnie Thompson, whose ice-core research on tropical glaciers shaped the field, died Monday at his Columbus home at age 78. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Lonnie Thompson, a climate scientist and professor at Ohio State University, died Monday at his home in Columbus at age 78. Ohio State announced the death but did not provide a specific cause.

Why it matters

Thompson was among the first researchers to document the effects of global warming in real time by studying high-altitude ice. His work with tropical glaciers helped establish a field that scientists continue to rely on to understand past and present climate change.

Thompson and colleagues completed at least 66 expeditions, with more than 60 of his own trips to high-altitude regions to collect ice samples. The cylindrical ice cores they extracted could total hundreds of feet, though the specific cause of his death remains undisclosed.

The players

Lonnie Thompson

A climate scientist and Ohio State University professor who pioneered ice core research on tropical glaciers and documented global warming's effects in real time.

Ohio State University

A public research university in Columbus, Ohio, where Thompson served as a professor in the School of Earth Sciences and which announced his death.

The details

Thompson drilled into glaciers in South America, Africa, and Asia, extracting cylindrical ice cores that scientists analyze for dust, volcanic ash, air bubbles, and water chemistry to reconstruct ancient climate swings. He and his wife, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, were early leaders in studying tropical glaciers, often camping on the ice for weeks at a time.

Monday: Thompson died at his home in Columbus, Ohio.

Big Picture

Thompson's tropical ice core work at Ohio State helped build the foundation for paleoclimate reconstruction that later researchers extended to polar and mountain ice records worldwide. His death removes one of the field's earliest leaders in real-time documentation of glacier retreat.

Readers following climate research may notice that ice core data used in climate models comes from a small number of long-term field programs. Continued funding and training for glacier researchers will determine how much of this record is extended in coming years.

The takeaway

Thompson's career shows how sustained fieldwork on remote ice can turn distant mountain glaciers into a clear record of climate change. His legacy lies in the data and the researchers he trained, which will continue to inform climate science long after his death.