Nature Communications, 9 May 2022 More than 40% of the Petermann ice shelf has disappeared over the past decade. Rising global temperatures increase the flow of warm water against the bottom of floating ice shelves, accelerating melt and rendering them more vulnerable to collapse. Ice shelves serve as gatekeepers; they restrain the flow of larger […]

Science, 5 May 2022 This study provides the first direct evidence of a deep groundwater system below the surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. These hidden pockets of water reduce the friction between the ice sheet and underlying bedrock, accelerating the flow of ice into the ocean. This groundwater system can also dig pathways through […]

This COP-26 session delves into the connections between loss of Arctic Sea ice, pollution and accelerated warming and extreme weather events in Europe and North America. The video features Dr. Alasdair Skelton, former Co-Director of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research/Stockholm University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8rsZhVrILI

News Briefing: 28 April 2022 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has released a comprehensive assessment of environmental changes in the “Third Pole,” the entirety of the glacier-capped region in South Asia containing the largest reserve of freshwater outside the poles. The Third Pole provides […]

Nature Communications, 19 April 2022 The current rapid loss of Arctic sea ice may intensify temperature and precipitation trends by 50% in Europe, North America, West Africa and South America for several decades. Rising global temperatures accelerate the flow of heat from the North Atlantic Ocean into the Barents-Kara Seas and nearby Arctic regions. The […]

Science, 28 April 2022 Under a high emissions scenario, the combination of ocean acidification, ocean warming and oxygen loss — especially in the polar oceans — will result in catastrophic marine species loss by 2300. The scale of loss would be on par with the five mass ocean extinction events in Earth’s past. Rapidly curbing […]

The geography of the West Antarctica holds the key as to why this part of the continent’s massive ice sheet may be vulnerable to rapid collapse, leading to potentially rapid sea-level rise that might reach several meters per century, especially at temperatures exceeding 3-4°C above pre-industrial. This session features multi-report IPCC authors and editors Dr. […]

News Briefing: 26 April 2022 Denali National Park in Alaska will be largely closed to the public for the next two years due to an unprecedented series of landslides caused by thawing permafrost. These have broken away several sections of the single, 92-mile road leading through the park. As global temperatures rise, they accelerate the […]

Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 19 April 2022 During February of this year, the Antarctic sea ice cover shrank below two million square kilometers for the first time since the satellite record began in 1978. Rising global temperatures in combination with the full force of several global climate patterns produced this record-breaking low. Unusually strong wind […]

Communications Earth & Environment, 14 April 2022 Over the past two decades, strong “atmospheric rivers” have triggered more than 60% of the major calving events of the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves and preceded their main collapses. Atmospheric rivers are long, flowing air currents that carry water vapor from the tropics and deposit […]

For some mid-latitude glacier regions such as Scandinavia and the western United States, the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C is the difference between some small preservation of glacier ice; and none at all. This side event features a region-by-region survey of the benefits of meeting the 1.5°C goal for the world’s glacier systems by three […]

Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 19 April 2022 Winter temperatures have increased by nearly 1°C in the Olympic mountain range over the past century, resulting in the disappearance of more than half its original glacial area. Glaciers in the Olympic mountains are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to both their low elevation, and […]

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 18 March 2022 This study provides the first confirmed record of Pacific salmon populations surviving and reproducing in Arctic waters near Alaska. As global temperatures rise, an increasing number of species are able to migrate northward into the Arctic Ocean due to more favorable water temperatures and the […]

Happy Earth Day, Cryosphere Capsule readers! See ICCI’s “Cryosphere” tweets in honor of the day at https://twitter.com/iccinet/status/1517404853752016896. (And check out Google’s search page, which today features time-lapse photographs of receding glaciers in East Africa and northeastern Greenland.) Whether you’re in cryosphere or not, have a wonderful day!

The glaciers of the Andes, Patagonia and New Zealand are among those in the world losing ice most quickly. This event looked at projections for the future at different emissions choices, and implications for water resources and local populations. Main Presenters: Dr. Lauren Vargo, Research Fellow at the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington/Te […]