Environmental Research Letters, 19 November 2021 An intense period of “catastrophic” lake drainage swept across northern Alaska from 2015-2019 during a period of increased summer warming. This set one of the highest levels of rapid lake drainage on record and broke a forty-year trend of decreasing drainage. Catastrophic drainage occurs when a lake on top […]

This COP-26 Cryosphere Pavilion session examines the future impact, and attempts at mitigation and adaptation in permafrost regions of the Arctic; with a presentation by Dr. Hugues Lantuit from the Alfred Wegener Institute and a panel discussion with youth researchers from impacted communities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNcXHAy0G2w

Eos, January 10 Pinning down the amount, rates and timing of future sea-level rise from Antarctica requires more targeted and integrated efforts to identify and understand the key processes affecting ice sheet melt. Many of these involve dynamic instabilities, as well as potentially irreversible behavior by the ice sheet. Such inter-disciplinary studies will not only […]

Environmental Research Letters, December 30 The winter flow of Russia’s massive Yenisei River – the largest river emptying into the Arctic Ocean – increased 80% between 1995 and 2019, unprecedented in the record going back to 1784. This acceleration may have begun as early as 1960. Previous studies have attributed such changes in wintertime freshwater […]

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, January 11 Rising global temperatures and intensifying heat waves have accelerated the thaw of permafrost across the Northern Hemisphere. When layers of permafrost thaw, the surrounding soil shifts and collapses, jeopardizing the infrastructure at the surface. This review summarizes findings from more than 160 papers, and concludes that the costs […]

For an explanation of the kind of modeling results and irreversible sea-level rise from Antarctica noted in the above Nature study, watch this COP-26 presentation by Dr. Robert DeConto of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyAlKGFD2kk

Nature Communications, November 15 At the end of the last Ice Age, there were eight periods in which elevated global temperatures caused large masses of icebergs to break off from Antarctica. During a majority of these periods, measurements of iceberg discharge show that the Antarctic Ice Sheet reached critical points of destabilization in ten years […]

Scientific Reports, December 20 During the past four decades, Himalayan glaciers have experienced a ten-fold increase in ice loss compared to their long-term average set over the past seven centuries. The Little Ice Age took place 400-700 years ago and represents the last period of widespread glacier expansion in the Himalaya. Since then, Himalayan glaciers […]

Over the coming weeks, the Cryosphere Capsules will feature videos of some of the best and most impactful side events that took place at the Cryosphere Pavilion during COP-26 in Glasgow. This week, especially in response to the research on potential collapse of an important Thwaites ice shelf (above) is an excellent explanation of why […]

American Geophysical Union, December 13 Previous scientific studies and reports may have underestimated the degree of warming in the Arctic resulting from greenhouse gas emissions to-date. The Arctic warms faster than any other region on Earth due to “Arctic amplification” — a phenomenon in which rising temperatures create feedback loops that increase the warming experienced […]

American Geophysical Union, December 13 Rising global temperatures appear to be accelerating the spread of deep and fast-moving cracks across the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf. This ice shelf plays a pivotal role in slowing the flow of ice from the massive Thwaites Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-melting glaciers on the continent. Thwaites currently […]

Over the coming weeks, the Cryosphere Capsules will feature videos of some of the best and most impactful side events that took place at the Cryosphere Pavilion during COP-26 in Glasgow. This week: what does the future hold for Greenland’s contribution to sea-level rise at low, versus high emissions? This Nov. 10 side event featured […]

Nature Communications, October 26 Rising global temperatures accelerate the decline of Arctic sea ice extent, which this study associated with increased likelihood of wildfires in the western United States. Loss of Arctic sea ice cover exposes the dark surface of the ocean to greater warming from sunlight. This warmer Arctic Ocean surface water causes a […]

Nature Communications, November 1 Meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased by 21% over the past forty years, and has also become 60% more erratic from one summer to the next. As global temperatures have risen, extreme melting events across this ice sheet are becoming more frequent and intense. For example, meltwater runoff […]

Over the coming weeks, the Cryosphere Capsules will feature videos of some of the best and most impactful side events that took place at the Cryosphere Pavilion during COP-26 in Glasgow! First out this week is a side event on the future of Arctic sea ice, featuring Dr. Walt Meier of the National Snow and […]