CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Cryospheric Sciences

Meet Carleen Tijm-Reijmer, our fearless CR Division President!

May 27, 2022
Meet Carleen Tijm-Reijmer, our fearless CR Division President!
Carleen’s research is in polar meteorology, which is dependent on using in-situ observations from installed weather stations as well as regional climate models. Photo credit: Olaf Eisen

Every division within the European Geosciences Union is led by a senior and junior representative, who oversee the happenings within their respective divisions. The senior representative of the Cryosphere Division is Carleen Tijm-Reijmer, who we’ve managed to track down here at EGU! We ask Carleen to explain her role within EGU and the CR Division. Please tell us a little bit about yourself!   ...[Read More]

What cryoscientists should expect for a Covid-regulated EGU22

May 20, 2022
What cryoscientists should expect for a Covid-regulated EGU22
After two (long) years of remote work and virtual conferencing, we are looking forward to engaging with fellow scientists in-person at the upcoming EGU22 General Assembly! But, with Covid-19 still in the air, this year’s conference will be held as a hybrid format. In this way, EGU22 will be modified to comply with Austrian pandemic restrictions, as well as introduce new elements to the programme to engage with those attending remotely.

After two (long) years of remote work and virtual conferencing, we are looking forward to engaging with fellow scientists in-person at the upcoming EGU22 General Assembly! But, with Covid-19 still in the air, this year’s conference will be held as a hybrid format. In this way, EGU22 will be modified to comply with Austrian pandemic restrictions, as well as introduce new elements to the programme t ...[Read More]

Ice-hot news: A cryo-summary of the new IPCC assessment report!

May 13, 2022
Ice-hot news: A cryo-summary of the new IPCC assessment report!
Figure 1: An illustration of the Vernagtferner glacier in Austria, under the influence of climate change. Painting by Larissa van der Laan, based on historical photographs compiled by Markus Weber.

We have waited eight years for it, and it is finally out: the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (a.k.a. « IPCC AR6 »)! And it is more than 10,000 pages long across Working Groups! Fortunately, a synthesis report integrating the findings of all three working groups should be released in Autumn 2022. However, we, at the EGU Cryosphere Blog, thought it might be us ...[Read More]

Taiwan’s Icy Past

May 6, 2022
Taiwan’s Icy Past
The bustling cityscape of Taipei at dusk. Notice the mountains that surround the entire city! [Credit: TJ & CJ Young]

The beautiful island of Taiwan (as given by its colonial name, Ilha Formosa) is primarily known for its lush tropical forests, delicious culinary cuisine, bubbling hot springs, and a bustling cityscape. But, what does Taiwan have to do with the cryosphere? Before you resist the urge to leave and get a bubble tea, read on to find out about Taiwan’s cryospheric past! From cities to mountains Taiwan ...[Read More]

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]

Women of Cryo VI: Women and Glaciers in the Chilean Andes (Part II)

April 15, 2022
Women of Cryo VI: Women and Glaciers in the Chilean Andes (Part II)

In Chile, gender imbalance in science mirrors the international context, even though the Americas have been recognised as a region where women’s representation in science has increased, compared to other countries (UNESCO 2015 statistics and this study). However, Chile still has one of the lowest ratios of women participating in STEM (33.1%), followed by Mexico and Peru, as shown in this study. In ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper – Meteorites in Antarctica

April 8, 2022
Highlighted Paper – Meteorites in Antarctica
Figure 1. Artist impression of the Antarctic meteorite treasure map (not to scale). [photo: field team of the JARE-54/BELARE 2012–2013 expedition to the Nansen blue ice field. Artist impression: Janbert Aarnink]

A Belgian-Dutch team of scientists created the first-ever “treasure map” that shows where in Antarctica meteorites are likely to be found. Meteorites are samples from space that fall as stone-like material on the surface of the Earth. Once recovered, meteorites provide crucial information on the formation and evolution of our Solar System. First meteorite finds in Antarctica December 1969, Yamato ...[Read More]

Icy fieldwork: real or April Fool’s?

April 1, 2022
Icy fieldwork: real or April Fool’s?
Photo credit: Katja Laute (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Those of us fortunate to participate in cryo-fieldwork are well aware of the unique, hilarious, and sometimes bizarre scenarios that we often find ourselves in. For this year’s April Fool’s Day, the EGU Cryosphere Blog team shares crazy anecdotes, with a catch: one of these stories is fake! Are you able to tell fact from fiction? Fill in the (twitter) poll, and time will tell if you are right…!! W ...[Read More]

The fragile connection of the Ocean and the Cryosphere – a story from the past

March 24, 2022
The fragile connection of the Ocean and the Cryosphere – a story from the past
The primordial Earth. [Credit: Simone Marchi/SwRI]

Compared to the formation and evolution of the Earth’s surface, the ancient oceans receive little attention in geological history. However, understanding the rise and fall of the oceans of the past—or “ghost oceans”—can reveal crucial information about the evolution of our planet, the cryosphere included. Can oceans play a historical role in climate change? If water bodies had not existed, would w ...[Read More]