Ice shelves, the floating margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, play an important role in the estimation of future sea-level rise. By their presence, they act as a brake on the flow from the grounded ice sheet to the ocean and therefore modulate how much of this ice is added to the ocean. As the atmosphere and ocean warm, melt is occurring at their surface and at their base, putting their existence ...[Read More]
Have you ever wondered how many glaciers will still exist in the future? Or how many glaciers we might lose each year in the coming decades? In our new study (Van Tricht et al., 2025), we shift the focus of glacier modelling from ice volume to individual glaciers. Because every glacier, no matter how small, can matter. Not necessarily for global sea-level rise, but for landscapes, ecosystems, cult ...[Read More]
During the climate negotiations at COP30, the global importance of a warming cryosphere was stressed in various formats. The UNFCCC Conference of Parties (this year’s COP30) marks the yearly global climate negotiations which formed the aim to limit global warming to well below 2 °C (the 1.5 °C target) with the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015. These huge conferences of ten thousands of people feel ...[Read More]
![Aerial image showing the climate change impact on small glaciers in the central Greater Caucasus, Georgia. Slopes are extensive deposits of moraines and loose rock debris, left behind by retreating glaciers. A small glacial lake (near the center-bottom of the image) fed by meltwater from the surrounding ice and snow was developed after glacier retreat [Credit: Levan Tielidze].](https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/cr/files/2025/06/Fig0-700x400.jpg)
In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about his recent glacier study from the Greater Caucasus. By combining geomorphology, remote sensing, and historical cartography, the team reconstructed nearly 200 years of glacier and climate change across one of the world’s most dynamic cryospheric frontiers. Glaciers’ transformation provides a high-resolution archive of post-Little Ice Age climate dy ...[Read More]
2025 marks an important year for glaciers, as it’s the official Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, an initiative by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Part of the initiative is also the official declaration of March 21st as the World Day for Glaciers. UNESCO wants to celebrate this day in the hope that it “urges global action to protect glaciers and their crucial role in sustaini ...[Read More]
Retreating glaciers, shrinking sea ice or thawing permafrost – many of you might have witnessed formerly familiar landscapes being transformed by climate change over the last years, maybe even beyond recognition. And perhaps these undeniable changes have left you feeling sad, angry or anxious about the future, fearing what lies ahead. But did you know there is an entire academic field out there re ...[Read More]
Sea ice is a critical part of the unique Arctic ecosystem, but climate change is becoming a serious threat. Warming in the Arctic has already resulted in the loss of over 4 million km² of sea ice. But is it all bad? Retreat of Arctic sea ice is allowing more ships to navigate the Arctic Ocean, along shorter, faster and cheaper sea routes, providing emission reductions of 24%. But will the growth o ...[Read More]
The cryosphere comprises all the ice on Earth, from glaciers in Antarctica, icebergs floating in the ocean, to millimetric ice found in the soils. Soil can hold ice wedges and ice lenses, but there are small ice reservoirs that are usually overlooked: the pore ice. Pore ice is an unknown compartment whose role regarding matter degradation is yet to be determined… stay with us and you will see that ...[Read More]
In 2020, ocean scientists discovered a new island off the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, naming it after the Norse goddess, Sif. The island is one of many new regions being exposed in the wake of increased ice shelf melting and glacial retreat. While these newly-revealed lands have been discussed in the Arctic and alpine ecosystems, the uncovered island and coastlines of Antarctica have been less ...[Read More]
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]