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 the Arctic circle. This COP27 session underscored the global impacts of cryosphere loss, specifically in terms of sea level rise, extreme weather, pollution, reduced food security, and rapid ocean acidification. Speakers included Dr. Maxine Burkett, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Fisheries and Polar Affairs in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES); Susanna Israelsson, member of the Sámi Council from Jiellevárre in the northern part of Swedish Sápmi; Dr. Jason Box, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland; Dr. John Walsh, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks; and Dr. James Overland, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL).
Dear Friends of the Cryosphere Pavilion and Cryosphere Capsule Readers! We are happy to announce…
Nature Communications, 21 July 2026 Rising sea levels driven by ocean warming and ice sheet…
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 26 June 2026 East Antarctica has long been considered less…
Geophysical Research Letters, 9 July 2026 Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is the cold, dense water…
PNAS, 20 July 2026 After several years in the early 2020s when Arctic winter sea…
Nature Communications, 16 July 2026 Temporarily exceeding global warming targets increases the risk of long-lasting…