CR
Cryospheric Sciences

EGU Guest blogger

This guest post was contributed by a scientist, student or a professional in the Earth, planetary or space sciences. The EGU blogs welcome guest contributions, so if you've got a great idea for a post or fancy trying your hand at science communication, please contact the blog editor or the EGU Communications Officer to pitch your idea.

Small step for reindeer – large leap for humankind?

September 22, 2023
Photo of a reindeer looking for food on the snow.
Fig 1 – A reindeer digging through snow to find food. [Credit: T. Windirsch]

Since several decades, there’s a lot of discussion in the permafrost ecosystem community on “rewilding” and “return to a natural state” in order to protect ecosystems and to reduce the impacts of climate change. Reindeer and other herbivores influence the insulation regime of the ground and could thereby preserve the frozen state of permafrost ground. Is there a way to utilise this effect to our b ...[Read More]

We are back – with 4 Arctic fieldwork stories!

September 1, 2023
We are back – with 4 Arctic fieldwork stories!
Walking to a glacier in NE Greenland. Photo credit: Maria Scheel

You might have missed our weekly blog posts, but we are back! This week’s post highlights four field work campaigns our cryo community conducted. Join us on a journey to Greenland, Svalbard and Alaska to learn about methane emissions, glacier flows, tundra fires and ice microbes. Chasing methane in Greenland The subglacial environment of the Greenland Ice Sheet is a relatively new discovered ...[Read More]

Hidden Ice of the Greater Caucasus

June 30, 2023
Hidden Ice of the Greater Caucasus
Figure 1 . The prominent rock glacier in the headwater of the Juta River valley, Kazbegi region, Georgian Caucasus, visited by thousands of tourists each year. [Credit: Levan Tielidze].

In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about the first inventory of rock glaciers from the Greater Caucasus as an important basis for further research of geomorphology and palaeoglaciology in this region. What are Rock Glaciers? Rock glaciers are distinctive geomorphological landforms of frozen debris that are supersaturated with ice. The low ice velocity or certain speed of movement and per ...[Read More]

An inclusive field team is a great field team: Strategies and resources

June 23, 2023
A scheme showing the 6 aspects leading to positive and inclusive fieldwork environment, including physical and mental well-being, team values, recognising and valueing diversity, rest days, dealing with stress, communication and daily checkin.
Key elements of a positive and inclusive field work environment. From Karplus, Young et al. (2023).

Fieldwork is essential to polar sciences, but who are the people that actually do the fieldwork these days? A great field team includes people spanning a diversity of scientific skills, but at the same time, a diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and identities also adds intrinsic value to team dynamics and the overall field work experience. As part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaborati ...[Read More]

Did You Know That It Ain’t Easy Being Greenland?

June 16, 2023
Did You Know That It Ain’t Easy Being Greenland?
The shape of Greenland changes depending on the map projection. [Credit: Kate Berg]

As a reader of the Cryosphere blog, you may have spent a lot of time looking at the Greenland Ice Sheet, but do you really know what Greenland looks like? This “It Ain’t Easy Being Greenland” map is something I made for fun during the #30DayMapChallenge (an international project to complete one map a day during the month of November) and highlights how different the island country appears dependin ...[Read More]

How over-consumption leads to reduced sea ice: Visualization through artwork

June 2, 2023
How over-consumption leads to reduced sea ice: Visualization through artwork
Figure 1: Picture of the artistic stand of Zacharie Bodson and David Docquier during the Seas & Oceans exhibition organized in Brussels by Talk CEC. [Credit: Zacharie Bodson]

Do you think that it is sometimes challenging to understand science (as a reader or listener) or to explain it (as a scientist)? Then, art may be a good solution to the problem. Between April and June 2023, Zacharie Bodson (artist) and I (climate scientist) are participating in the Seas and Oceans exhibition to explain the links between changes in Arctic sea ice and over-consumption. Read here abo ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper – Human Errors in Snow Models

May 26, 2023
Highlighted Paper – Human Errors in Snow Models
Weather station at Weissfluhjoch in Davos, Switzerland. [Credit: Luca Bianchi]

As scientists, we often encounter errors in our own work and in the work of others. As modelers, we call these errors “bugs”. Of course, they are not actual insects, but they definitely keep us awake from time to time. Even though everyone is aware of their existence, we rarely discuss them in a scientific context. In today’s post, I bring to you the work and journey of a snow scientist, Dr. Cécil ...[Read More]

Did you know about Antarctic snow megadunes?

May 19, 2023
Maps showing areas on East Antarctica that have megadunes made of snow and ice.
Location map of megadune area adapted from (Traversa et al. 2023)

When we think of dunes our thoughts automatically go to deserts and sand. But on Earth, as well as on other celestial bodies of the solar system, dunes exist also in a completely different environment. I am talking about gigantic dunes consisting of snow. On Earth they are called megadunes and you can find them only in East Antarctica, where they extend for thousands of km. If you want to know mor ...[Read More]

Fostering connections with frozen landscapes

May 12, 2023
Fostering connections with frozen landscapes
Acetone transfer print of a photograph of the Siberian lowland tundra landscape.

Whether they are natural occurrences or experimentally induced, permafrost and Arctic ecosystems are responding fundamentally to recent climate extremes. Good writing and statistics material for us scientists, but bad news on pretty much every other level. Are we effectively communicating how fundamental these changes are? And can we use our personal experiences, stories and artwork to support us ...[Read More]

Quantifying the experience: Himalayan fieldwork in numbers

May 5, 2023
Quantifying the experience: Himalayan fieldwork in numbers
The Langtang expedition Team. [Credit: Renko Douze/Christian Paulussen]

The Himalayas are Big. But how Big is the fieldwork experience? What is behind all the mountain field data and beautiful mountain pictures? 40 preparation emails, 110 km of hiking, 170 kg of gear and 25 people in the team. We try to put some numbers on the experience we had during the Langtang, Nepal Himalaya expedition in November 2022. Behind the scenes Remote mountain fieldwork can be quite an ...[Read More]