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 […]
Last month, Antarctica’s sea ice hit its maximum (largest) extent towards the end of Antarctic winter; but that “maximum” was the lowest ever observed, reaching only about 17 million km2. That was over 1 million km2 than the previous record. Sea ice scientists are beginning to speak of a state change in Antarctic sea ice, […]
GLAMOS Glacier Monitoring Center, 28 September 2023 High summer heat and low winter snowfall have created the perfect storm for extreme ice loss in the European Alps. The Swiss Academy of Sciences reported that 2023 saw a 4% reduction in the volume of Swiss glaciers, adding to all-time high loss of 6% in 2022. These […]
The Cryosphere, 26 September 2023 The “grounding line” of the southern Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica can migrate up to 15 kilometers daily with changing tides, which can flush ocean water several kilometers inland under the ice sheet and increase melting. In less stable Antarctic regions, such as the Thwaites Glacier, this process is known […]
Following the UN General Assembly and Climate Ambition Summit in New York, leaders from the Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) high-level group organized an event making clear the need for urgent action to take 2°C off the table at COP28. Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth-Eide, Norway, and Julio Cordano, Director for Climate, Environment […]
The Cryosphere, 7 September 2023 Two groundbreaking studies reveal that remaining at today’s 1.2°C could trigger the slow but certain loss of parts of West Antarctica over coming centuries, even with no additional warming beyond current temperatures. Once initiated, this ice loss and sea level rise cannot be reversed. Experts from major European research institutions […]