Cryosphere Video of the Week: “Understanding the History of the Greenland Ice Sheet”

Dr. Paul Bierman, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Vermont, summarized his recent paper on ancient soil remains from an ice core taken at Summit Station, at nearly the highest point of the ice sheet (3 kilometers of ice). Fossils in the sediment reveal that this site was ice-free in Earth’s not-so-distant past, […]

Today’s Policies Determine the Rate of Sea Level Rise from Antarctica: Improved Ice Loss Projections Over Coming Centuries

Earth’s Future, 4 September 2024 An updated model comparison experiment (ISMIP6 Antarctica 2300) has provided the first multi-model and multi-century projections of Antarctic Ice Sheet loss to the year 2300. Using 16 different ice sheet models, authors highlight the sharp risk of triggering large increases in Antarctic ice loss accelerating after the year 2100 if […]

Adaptation Plans for Coastal Cities Inadequate in Face of Increasing Cryosphere Loss

Nature Cities, 26 August 2024 Current measures taken by most coastal cities to adapt to climate change, especially in light of cryosphere-related impacts such as rising seas, extreme weather and flooding, are presently inadequate, according to this new study published in advance of the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Cities. Authors systematically evaluated the strategies […]

Two Reports Launched on Sea Level Rise, Coastal Flooding and Climate Urgency

United Nations and WMO, 26 August 2024 In Tonga, UN Secretary-General António Guterres released a special briefing on sea-level rise alongside the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO’s) State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023 Report. The UNSG’s brief summarizes the latest science on future sea level-rise at a global and regional level, with a […]

COP27 Video of the Week: “Slow Onset, Irreversible Events Beyond Adaptation: Global Stocktake, Implementation and 1.5° Ambition” with Florence Colleoni

Global impacts, especially loss and damage, from cryosphere feedbacks will be largely permanent on human timescales, beyond adaptation limits for billions living in coastal or mountain-dependent regions if carbon emissions overshoot 1.5°C. This session outlined the latest science on projected feedbacks from ice sheets and glaciers in the context of implementation timeframes. Dr. Florence Colleoni […]

Ice Cliff Collapse May Not Occur so Rapidly in the Near-Term, but Risks of Major Sea-Level Rise Remain

Science Advances, 21 August 2024 The collapse of ice shelves around Antarctica could expose tall ice cliffs at the edge of the ice sheet. Some models have shown that once the protective ice shelves are lost, these cliffs may fail structurally and collapse, leading to rapid ice loss and extremely fast rates of sea-level rise. […]

Less Snow and More Above-freezing Temperatures Speeding Arctic Glacier Melt

The Cryosphere, 15 August 2024 The Arctic contains one-fourth of the world’s glaciers, and this study detailed how rising temperatures are causing them to melt faster. Glaciers consist of compressed snow that accumulates over many years, turning into thick ice. Snowfall that accumulates on top of glacier ice also insulates it from summer melt. Researchers […]

Rapid Emissions Reductions May Kickstart Stabilizing Feedback for Antarctica

Science Advances, August 4, 2024 A state-of-the-art ice sheet model predicting future sea-level rise shows that humanity may be able to kickstart strong stabilizing feedbacks that could greatly reduce Antarctic ice loss if rapid emissions reductions are taken within the next few years. The study showed that under low carbon emissions, rebounding areas of the […]

Central Greenland Ice-free with Temperatures Similar to Today’s

PNAS, August 5, 2024 The center of Greenland – currently buried under a 3-kilometer-thick sheet of ice – supported plant life indicating that it was completely ice-free even when CO2 concentrations were far lower than today’s levels, sometime within the past million years. The authors examined ancient remains of soil from the base of an […]

征集COP29会边活动和早期职业科学家志愿者

尊敬的冰冻圈展馆和冰冻圈胶囊的读者们! 2024年联合国气候变化大会(COP29,11月11日至22日在阿塞拜疆巴库举行)冰冻圈展馆的边会申请流程现已开放!在巴库,我们计划再次通过一系列与政策息息相关的边会,继续传递关于紧迫行动的冰冻圈信息。我们今年的分配空间[…]

本周视频:“揭秘2022年3月南极东部极端高温事件”

在今年早些时候举行的“北极21”科学政策简报会上的这次演讲中,乔纳森·威利博士解读了2022年3月创纪录的南极洲东部热浪,包括其对南极冰盖的影响。这场极端高温事件打破了许多3月份的温度记录,出现了前所未有的沿海降雨和融化,气温比平均水平高出30-40摄氏度,[...]