CR
Cryospheric Sciences

climate change

Current challenges: high-altitude Chilean glacier monitoring in an extended drought

April 29, 2022
Current challenges: high-altitude Chilean glacier monitoring in an extended drought
Olivares Alfa Glacier in January 2021, Photo credit: Alejandro Silva.

Central Chile has been facing a long dry period since 2010, marked by a high mean precipitation deficit, a so-called Mega Drought (MD) (Garreaud et al., 2019). This, besides long-term temperature increase (Burger et al., 2018; Falvey & Garreaud, 2009), has affected negatively the glaciers’ mass balance in the region mainly due to low snow accumulation throughout a hydrological year (which is f ...[Read More]

More pancakes in the future!

April 21, 2022
More pancakes in the future!
Evening sun over pancake ice covering Hornsund Fjord in Svalbard, 27 March 2020. Credits: Roxana Cremer.

More pancakes in the future – that sounds like a very good New Year’s Eve resolution for Sunday brunches, but it could also be a development of the most tasty looking sea ice shape in the Arctic. Let’s find out more! Arctic Sea Ice The growth and melt of Arctic sea ice follows a seasonal cycle. In the springtime, under the midnight sun, the sea ice begins to melt until it reaches its m ...[Read More]

You left us too early: a eulogy to permafrost

March 4, 2022
You left us too early: a eulogy to permafrost
Cotton grass grows in wet landscapes in many tundra landscapes. Photo credit: Loeka Jongejans

Most problems faced in research are complex and require creativity and critical thinking. Thus, we need to be creative in science! Or maybe, science itself is creative and there is no such thing as non-creative science. Anyhow, in today’s world, where TED-talks, science slams and elevator pitches, not to mention tweets, are ubiquitous, it is important that scientific expression takes on a form tha ...[Read More]

Time & space of glaciers

February 25, 2022
Time & space of glaciers
Ice fall in Azay glacier in the beginning of XX century [Credits: Alexandra Rogozhina & IGRAS/RGO]

People usually perceive space and time, comparing them to their own life Words such as “forever” and “until the end” appear in fiction But how can we imagine the space and time of the mountain glaciers whose existence goes beyond our usual perception? And why is it so important for us now? With this post, researcher Alexandra Rogozhina shares her thoughts on these suggestive topics. Mostly, ...[Read More]

Living IN the Greenland ice sheet: the story of Sites I and II, Camp Century’s older, smaller siblings

January 21, 2022
Living IN the Greenland ice sheet: the story of Sites I and II, Camp Century’s older, smaller siblings
Site I in 1953 or early 1954, just after installation and before it was buried by accumulating snow. These three main tubes each have a diameter of 5.4 meters. [Credits: U.S. Air Force]

Greenland, cold as it is, was appropriately front and center in the Cold War. Strategically placed between Europe and North America, the United States sought to maintain and enhance its position on the island so that American missiles and bombers were in striking range of many Soviet targets. Soviet bombers and missiles coming toward North America would streak over Greenland making early warning c ...[Read More]

The EverDrill project: shedding light on the interior of a Himalayan debris-covered glacier

December 3, 2021
The EverDrill project: shedding light on the interior of a Himalayan debris-covered glacier
Figure 1 – The upper ablation area of Khumbu Glacier, with clean ice (left centre of image) coming out of the Khumbu Icefall becoming debris-covered as it flows towards the terminus (flow is towards the bottom right of the image). Credit: the author.

We know that glaciers are actively responding to climate change, but what is happening on the inside? The conditions within a glacier strongly influence its behaviour, but the deep and dark depths of a glacier are difficult to access – we know very little about this remote environment. The EverDrill project (2016 – 2019), funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, aimed to fill this kn ...[Read More]

Will the ice break out? – a story from the farthest north ice trails

November 26, 2021
Man on snow machine looks bake to the canoe he is towing across ice.
A family traveling up the coast with a traditional Umiaq skin boat on an ice trail only days before the ice broke out in 2014. Photo: Dyre Dammann

"For over two decades, the sea ice group at the University of Alaska has worked with the community of Utqiaġvik, establishing an integrated observing network. This network includes local observations, a coastal radar system to monitor ice conditions, an in-situ mass balance site monitoring environmental change such as ice growth and snow cover, and the mapping of community sea ice trails." In thi ...[Read More]

Climate change and the Cryosphere – With ice we are also losing a piece of our cultural heritage: a glaciologist’s perspective

November 5, 2021
Climate change and the Cryosphere – With ice we are also losing a piece of our cultural heritage: a glaciologist’s perspective
The most famous glacier of the Dolomites (in the Eastern Alps): the Marmolada glacier. Its retreat has been ongoing for over a century and the glacier has now become a distant memory of what it used to be at the end of the Little Ice Age, in the late 19th century. [Credits: Giovanni Baccolo]

Glaciers are shrinking and disappearing in many regions of the Earth. Did you know? I am joking of course. We are flooded with news talking about this. The decline of glaciers has manifold and severe consequences and is one of the most powerful icons of climate change. Here I want to talk a little bit about one of the less talked about impact of glacier decline: the loss of culture and knowledge r ...[Read More]

Let’s go to School of Sustainability!

September 24, 2021
Let’s go to School of Sustainability!
Logo of School of Sustainability, showing on the background our evident love for the Cryosphere [Credit: FAWLTS]

Next generations will not only see impacts of climate change first-hand, but they will also deal with the associated societal implications. Implementing climate solutions and orienting themselves in a growing, green job market need cutting-edge knowledge, which is often hard to get through the ordinary, high-school syllabus. As early-career cryo-scientists (Federica is a PhD student in glacial geo ...[Read More]

Did you know about Artificial Glaciers?

August 27, 2021
Did you know about Artificial Glaciers?
Figure 1. The Presena glacier in the central Alps (Adamello-Presanella range) is one of the most famous “artificial” glaciers. Here we are in September 2020 and you see a snowcat in the process of removing the white tarps that cover the glacier in summer, visible in its upper part. Is this a glacier or a construction site? [Credits: Giovanni Baccolo]

There are several ways that we can classify glaciers. We can look at their shape, their size, their type of terminus, and many other features. A new characteristic has recently been gaining in popularity: artificiality. Yes, we now have a few artificial glaciers! Have you ever heard about them? They are glaciers whose behavior is directly influenced by human interventions in order to improve their ...[Read More]