Nature Communications, 21 December 2022 Small ocean currents known as “gyres” can trap heat along the edges of West Antarctica, sending warm meltwater from one ice shelf into cavities along the base of other downstream shelves, especially during the summer months. This intrusion of freshwater triggers additional melting, making these downstream ice shelves more vulnerable […]
The Arctic is currently warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world. Melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, rapidly retreating land ice and intensifying wildfires are already impacting Arctic ecosystems. These changes have devastating consequences on local and indigenous populations and will impact the lives and livelihoods of billions of people beyond […]
News Briefing: 14 December 2022 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released their 17th annual “Arctic Report Card,” bringing together 150 authors from across the world to assess the current state of the Arctic. Key findings include that rising global emissions are transforming the Arctic into a warmer and wetter environment. Air temperatures […]
Nature, 7 December 2022 Ancient DNA frozen in permafrost from northern Greenland reveals that this region was covered in a thriving forest ecosystem around 2 million years ago, a period during which local air temperatures were only several degrees warmer than current conditions. Prior to these findings, it was nearly impossible to reconstruct such ecosystems, […]
Arctic Indigenous Peoples face a complex landscape of environmental hazards due to climate change. Many Arctic communities are experiencing escalating loss and damage; encompassing loss of land, cultural heritage, and local and Indigenous knowledge. This session offered solutions on how scientists, Indigenous knowledge-holders, and decision-makers can come together to overcome the obstacles faced by complex […]
News Briefing: 2 November 2022 The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and various scientific institutions, has released a report on the global state of mountain glaciers with a clear message: limiting global warming to 1.5°C could save glaciers in two-thirds of World Heritage […]
Deep Sea Research Part II, 2 December 2022 With continued high CO2 emissions, cold water invertebrates in the Arctic Bering and Chukchi seas, such as mussels, snails, and clams, may lose half of their habitat within the next thirty years. The Bering and Chukchi seas connect the Pacific and Arctic oceans, supporting a wide range […]
Climate hazards in mountains have compounding negative effects on local ecosystems, with cascading impacts on billions of people downstream and worldwide. In a panel discussion, speakers provide an overview of these risks based on the latest IPCC assessment, offer diverse experiences in responding to them, and discuss engaging scientific insights and practical knowledge on policy […]
In our Cryosphere Capsules this week, we would like to highlight the importance of mountain glaciers and snow on communities across the world in celebration of International Mountains Day, December 11. The theme this year is “Women Move Mountains,” bringing a special focus to the key role women play in environmental protection and the social […]
Nature, 9 November 2022 The “ice stream” in Greenland’s largest drainage basin is shrinking and flowing much faster than previously anticipated, triggering rapid ice loss more than 200 kilometers inland. This region of fast-moving ice originates near the center of the ice sheet. Near the northeastern coast, the ice stream splits into two glaciers that […]
A warm welcome to everyone joining us for the first time after COP27! After daily updates from the Cryosphere Pavilion, 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. In the Capsules, we will also feature […]
Welcome to this last “regular” Cryosphere Capsules edition prior to the beginning of COP27 this Sunday, November 6; and running through November 18. The Capsules actually began as a daily preview of the program for the next day’s events and livestreams from the COP25 Cryosphere Pavilion in Madrid, Spain in December 2019. For approximately the […]
Communications Earth & Environment, 13 October 2022 Limiting warming below 1.5°C instead of 2°C could reduce the costs of infrastructure damage from permafrost thaw in the Tibetan Plateau by $1.32 billion before the end of the century. Over the past several decades, the Tibetan Plateau has warmed two times faster than the global average, increasing […]
Quaternary Science Reviews, 5 October 2022 During the warm period at the end of the last ice age (20,000 years ago), a massive ice sheet over the North Sea melted fast enough to carve out enormous valleys in the ocean floor within several hundred years, much faster than previously thought. Ice sheets typically grow and […]
Released as an online-only event from the Geneva Hub, this session discusses the importance of revising water governance strategies to avoid conflicts of interest between various water-dependent economic actors. As temperatures rise and glaciers retreat across the world, many rivers originating in currently glaciated mountains will see major changes in the quantity and timing of […]