Copernicus Climate Change Service, 10 January 2025 The EU’s Copernicus Programme has confirmed 2024 as the warmest year on record globally, and the first calendar year exceeding 1.5°C, at 1.60°C above pre-industrial levels. Human-induced climate change remained the primary driver of extreme air and sea surface temperatures; while other factors, such as the El Niño […]

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 3 December 2024 Climate change is affecting Arctic shoreline sea-level rise and permafrost thaw, as storms intensify and coastal sea ice thins. Coastal erosion is an increasing Arctic hazard as a result, yet the combined impact of sea-level rise and permafrost thaw subsidence on future Arctic coastal erosion […]

Scientific Reports, 3 January 2025 A new Antarctic-wide measuring project (using gravity inversion for bathymetry) that includes all Antarctic ice shelves has shown a deeper continental shelf in many regions, along with previously unknown underwater canyons. These would result in an overall greater exposure of the Antarctic ice sheet’s grounding line (where the ice rests […]

Summarizing recent results from an Arctic sea ice paper last month on which she was co-author, Dr. Alexandra Jahn from the University of Colorado Boulder explained paper calculations of when the first occurrence of ice-free conditions in the Arctic Ocean will likely occur; and how emissions reductions today can greatly limit future ice-free periods and […]

Thank You for 2024! It was wonderful seeing many of you at COP29 in Baku, including at the COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion. The Cryosphere Pavilion this year hosted more than seventy side events over the course of two weeks. We want to extend a warm thank you to everyone – from polar and mountain researchers, to […]

Geophysical Research Letters, 22 November 2024 Saltwater intrusion into fresh groundwater aquifers is increasingly damaging freshwater agriculture and ecosystems, and corroding underground urban infrastructure along coastal zones. State-of-the art projections of future sea-level rise and changes to groundwater recharge reveal that seawater will infiltrate underground freshwater supplies in about three of every four coastal areas […]

Sea-level rise results from a combination of several processes, from polar ice sheet loss to mountain glacier melt and more. Structured in a dynamic format, this COP29 event asked audience members to test their knowledge about sea-level rise with experts from the major cryosphere dynamics that drive sea-level rise. Speakers included Dr. Florence Colleoni, SCAR […]

Nature Communications, 10 December 2024 Mountain permafrost makes up 30% of global permafrost area, and helps preserve the stability of many high altitude steep mountain slopes. Permafrost thawing and degradation causes far-reaching impacts and risks to both human safety and infrastructure, as well as on ecosystems and hydrological processes. In this study, decadal ground temperature […]

Geophysical Research Letters, 8 December 2024 Melting Antarctic ice releases freshwater into the Southern Ocean, with profound impacts on regional and global climate systems, as well as sea-level rise. A new study projects how the amount of freshwater released into the ocean through ice shelf subsurface melting, iceberg calving, and surface meltwater runoff will change […]

Critical ecosystem stability thresholds are already being crossed in permafrost regions today. These growing impacts will worsen and grow more widespread with every increment of warming above 1.5°C. Key topics include the state of monitoring, measuring, and accounting for carbon dioxide and methane emissions from permafrost thaw and our current climate trajectory. Speakers included Dr. […]

Nature Communications, 3 December 2024 This new study used a range of climate models to predict when we could see the first ice-free day in the Arctic Ocean, which IPCC AR6 noted was likely to occur by mid-century even under low emissions scenarios. The study found that the earliest ice-free day could occur within just […]

All side events held at the COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion were livestreamed and saved to ICCI’s YouTube channel. They are organized into several playlists, including: ice sheets and sea level rise; mountain glaciers and snow loss; permafrost thaw; disappearing sea ice; and polar ocean acidification, warming and freshening. While the sound quality of some recordings is […]

Communications Earth & Environment, 17 October 2024 Satellite observations show that the average rate of sea-level rise worldwide has doubled during the past three decades, due to warming causing expansion of the ocean and increasing ice losses from the cryosphere (glaciers, ice sheets). In the period between 1993 and 2024, global sea levels rose by […]

The Cryosphere, 8 October 2024 Researchers have linked El Niño events to loss of glacier ice and snow in the Peruvian Andes, raising alarm over the future of these high-mountain water resources.  El Niño, a climate phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years, warms ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific, affecting weather worldwide. The study, using […]

The Cryosphere, 25 September 2024 Most projections of future sea-level rise deal with timescales of decades (2100), or occasionally to the year 2300. However, ice losses from Antarctica will not stop for thousands of years because of the inertia of the ice sheet’s response to global warming from fossil fuel emissions. In a new study, […]