Rock glaciers are slow-moving masses of ice and rock debris that flow downhill like glaciers, but a thick layer of boulders covers the ice and insulates it. In the Teton Range of Wyoming, the white glaciers thinned by about 0.84 meters a year between 2014 and 2022, roughly seven times faster than in the previous half century, while rock glaciers lost only about 0.05 meters a year. The debris acts like a shade, keeping the ice colder, much as reflective blankets slow melting on ski slopes. As a result, streams fed by rock glaciers warmed about 0.6 degrees Celsius over the decade, compared with 3.4 degrees for streams fed by snowpack. There are at least 1,500 active rock glaciers across the western United States, holding roughly 2.5 cubic kilometres of water, about a fifth of the amount in mountain glaciers.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.