Cryospheric Sciences

Massive melting of Caucasus glaciers

Levan Tielidze March 18, 2022

Ice-snow covered Mt. Kazbegi (5047 m above sea level), one of the tourist attractions of the Greater Caucasus region. Photo was taken from Village of Sno in Georgia. Photo Credit: Levan Tielidze

The Caucasus is one of the most studied glacierized regions in the world (see previous Cryoblogs on Caucasus glaciers here and here). In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about the health of the Greater Caucasus glaciers. His first study published this year indicates that the rate of decline in glacier extent between 2000 and 2020 in the Greater Caucasus is four times higher than it was be ...[Read More]

Crater Glacier: A story of renewal in the aftermath of destruction

Annika Horlings March 11, 2022

Crater Glacier, as photographed in 2007. [Credit: Jon Major, U.S. Geological Survey]

Crater Glacier, located on Mount St. Helens, Washington State, U.S., tells a tale of renewal. The catastrophic and deadly May 18th, 1980 eruption of the volcano created, among other things, a deep horseshoe-shaped, north-facing crater and obliterated most of the glaciers that resided on the volcano’s slopes. By a decade and a half later, it was clear that a glacier had formed in this unlikely loca ...[Read More]

You left us too early: a eulogy to permafrost

Loeka Jongejans March 4, 2022

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

Alexandra Rogozhina February 25, 2022

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]

A place called home?

Katrin Lindbäck February 18, 2022

Black-legged kittiwakes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Photo credit: Geir Wing Gabrielsen/Norwegian Polar Institute.

Welcome to Kongsfjorden in Svalbard. The front of the glaciers terminating into the sea is an ecological hotspot, home to many marine animals, like kittiwakes, who love to hunt here. They feed on small fish and shrimp, which at marine-terminating glacier fronts are brought to the surface by upwelling glacial meltwater. Retreating glaciers lose their contact with the ocean As the planet warms these ...[Read More]

Climate change and cryosphere – A wetter future for the Arctic

Michelle McCrystall February 11, 2022

Rain fall will likely become the more dominant precipitation type in the Arctic earlier than previously projected. Credit: Cole Farlow.

The latest climate models show that Arctic precipitation is changing more rapidly than previously projected with an earlier transition to a rainfall-dominated precipitation. This rapid change in precipitation will have huge implications for the Arctic ecosystem as well as those who live within the region. Arctic precipitation change, why is it so important? The rapid change in Arctic climate, from ...[Read More]

Did you know… Arctic lightning strikes are on the rise?

Jenny Turton February 4, 2022

When we think of lightning, it is often accompanied by warm summer nights, tropical storms and a sticky feeling when we try to sleep. However, lightning also happens in the cold Arctic, and is even increasing in frequency. But how and why? And why does that matter? What is lightning? Lightning is caused by a difference in electrical charge between the cloud and the air, nearby clouds, or the groun ...[Read More]

Camp Century re-visited: sediment from the bottom of a Cold War ice core reveals Greenland’s warm past

Andrew Christ January 28, 2022

Historic photograph of the ice core drill rig inside a covered snow trench at Camp Century, northwestern Greenland in 1964. Source: Langway, 2008 [Credit: USACE/CRREL].

A Cold War nuclear-powered military base inside the Greenland Ice Sheet sounds like science fiction, but the science that came out of this U.S. army installation was anything but fiction. In last week’s EGU CR blog post, Paul Bierman and Amanda Schmidt discussed the advances made by the U.S. military in operating across the Greenland Ice Sheet that culminated in the establishment of Camp Century i ...[Read More]

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

Paul Bierman & Amanda Schmidt January 21, 2022

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]

Parenting in Academia: Challenges and Perspectives

EGU Guest blogger January 14, 2022

White print on pavement with parent holding kid by the hand

Children pave the way to the future, but the parents need support [credit: Suzi Kim at Unsplash.com]

Trying to juggle teaching, advising, publishing, finding a new (or permanent) job, relocating, attending conferences, and actually doing research sometimes requires more hours in the day than exist (oh and that global pandemic situation is sticking around). Additionally, many scientists have children or are starting a family at the same time as maintaining and building a career. In this week’s blo ...[Read More]