The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are both losing ice; and have the potential to undergo rapid and self-sustaining retreat that triggers accelerated sea level rise if the climate warms. Especially if temperatures pass 2°C above pre-industrial, triggered ice loss from these regions will cause massive and largely irreversible global sea level rise, potentially within […]
Nature Climate Change, 4 December 2023 The massive Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica underwent a fifty-year period of “marine ice sheet instability” (MISI), a rapid cycle of retreat and ice loss that ended only when it reached a new stable position on bedrock in the 1990s. This glacier began rapidly retreating in the 1940s, […]
Dr. Holly Han volunteered at the COP28 Cryosphere Pavilion as part of our Early Career Scientists Program, moderating side events and explaining the latest science to policy makers. She specializes in ice sheets; her research uses paleoclimate data over past glacial cycles to strengthen models and better predict future sea level rise. Most recently, her […]
Geophysical Research Letters, 1 December 2023 This study finds that the prognosis for glaciers in the European Alps is worse than previously thought, with one-third of present-day glacier ice committed to be lost by 2050, even were global emissions completely halted today. Researchers identify this level of ice loss as the “absolute minimum” – a […]
News Briefing: 4 January 2024 From the Cascades to the Sierra Nevada, mountains along the western U.S. and lower Canadian coast currently have less than half their normal snowpack for this time of the year, raising concerns that the summer will bring major water shortages; with impacts on agriculture, power generation, fisheries and ecosystems. Snow […]
Filmed last month at the COP28 Cryosphere Pavilion in Dubai, this side event reflects on the impacts of declining snow and ice in mid-latitude mountain ranges, with a unique focus on the outdoor sports industry. With one speaker joining in his snowboarding gear from a mountain top in Hochfügen, Austria, the event showcased successful initiatives […]
To all of our Cryosphere Capsules readers, we wish you a merry holiday season and a joyful 2024! We want to thank everyone for their incredible work this past year. It takes a community to bring about meaningful action, and this year has offered a powerful message of unity and hope, especially when it comes […]
We would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone who is joining the “Cryosphere Capsules” newsletter for the first time after COP28! This message marks the return of the Cryosphere Capsules, a weekly email that provides plain-language summaries for policy makers of the latest developments in cryosphere and climate science. This week, we catch […]
Journal of Earth System Dynamics, 14 November 2023 The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average rate. A new study has quantified the impact of this faster warming on how quickly the Paris Agreement’s global temperature limits of 1.5°C and 2°C are likely to be breached. Scientists analyzed data from climate […]
Science, 22 December 2023 The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 5 meters, with direct consequences that include complete inundation of low-lying countries and global loss of coastal ecosystems. Modeling studies have suggested that WAIS collapse may already be inevitable, or very close to long-term committed collapse; […]
Dear Cryosphere Capsule readers- For the next two weeks, our team will be at COP28 in Dubai helping organize the Cryosphere Pavilion with livestreamed events each day summarizing the latest cryosphere science. We will share daily updates on this mailing list with a schedule of side events that can also be watched live on our […]
Nature Communications, 7 November 2023 The glaciers of North Greenland hold enough ice to raise sea level by 2.1 meters, but have long been considered stable because of their protective ice shelves; which serve as a barrier between the main ice sheet and the ocean. However, a new study shows that this stability no longer holds. […]
Nature, 18 October 2023 New research suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet may be slightly more resistant to global warming than previously thought, with complete loss occurring if global temperatures stabilize between 1.7-2.3°C (median 2.1°C), rather than median 1.6°C as in previous studies. It also found that reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere as […]
Nature Climate Change, 23 October 2023 A state-of-the-art model suggests that a widespread increase in West Antarctic ice shelf melting, including in regions crucial for maintaining the stability of the bordering ice sheet, is now locked in to occur through at least 2100. This is because water temperatures in the Amundsen Sea off West Antarctica […]
Science Advances, 12 October 2023 Latest observations reveal that 71 out of the 162 massive ice shelves around Antarctica are shrinking with no sign of recovery, providing striking evidence of Antarctica’s vulnerability to climate warming. Ice shelves extend from the continent and float atop sea water, stabilizing the massive glaciers behind them. Researchers expected these […]