Recent work published in my department at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) focused on solid ice discharge into the ocean from the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1986 to 2017 (Mankoff et al. 2019). Solid ice discharge is the ice that is lost from a glacier as it flows towards the coast and eventually breaks off as icebergs into the ocean (i.e. calving). Solid ice discharge is an impo ...[Read More]
Cryo Adventures – What’s currently going on in Antarctic science?
Map of the various locations mentioned in the text. Green markers are bases, red markers measurement campaign locations [Credit: Andy Smedley].
As Christmas gets closer, days are getting shorter in the northern hemisphere. A good excuse to get cosy inside on the sofa, drinking tea and eating Christmas biscuits. Meanwhile, a few thousand of scientists are heading “South”, to Antarctica, where the lengthening days provide the perfect conditions to conduct a whole variety of scientific field expeditions… Science in Antarctica Just last ...[Read More]
Did you know…? Antarctica Day 2019 – 60 years of peace
Figure 1: Scientists fly the flags for the school children who designed them for Antarctica Day [Photo credit: UK Polar Network].
December 1st 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic treaty. To celebrate the signing of the treaty, ‘Antarctica Day’ now occurs each year on December 1st. But what is the Antarctic Treaty? How do people celebrate? This week’s blog post will tell you everything you need to know, just in time for celebrations! Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic Treaty was originally signed by 12 ...[Read More]
Image of the Week – Desert Varnish, Antarctica Style
If you had to describe Antarctica with one colour, red is probably the last one you would pick. However, some parts of the so-called white continent can be surprising in their colours. Today’s Image of the Week shows us that some parts of Antarctica — Beacon Valley in this case – can be strikingly similar to landscapes in hot deserts…. … speaking of deserts, did you know that: Antarcti ...[Read More]
Cryo-Comm – Six reasons why you should communicate your science
What inspired you to get into polar or cryospheric research? Perhaps it was a passion for the outdoors, a drive to protect the environment for the people and animals that live there, or a fascination with wild places. For me, it was all three – and the more I learned about Antarctic climate science, the more I realised that the polar regions are vital to the functioning of a healthy planet, and so ...[Read More]
Did you know… about the fluctuating past of north-east Greenland?
Fig. 1: Map of the north-east sector of Greenland showing the location of the North East Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) with its three outlet glaciers (Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79N), Zachariae Isstrøm (ZI) and Storstrømmen Glacier (SG)), and the offshore bathymetry and the position of its margin reconstructed for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (dotted black line) [Credit: Ilaria Tabone].
Recent geological data shows that during a very cold phase of our Earth’s climate (between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago), there was a huge expansion of polar ice sheets, yet the north-eastern part of the Greenland ice sheet was less extensive than today. How could this have occurred? In this post we shed light on the potential causes of this ice sheet behaviour. What do we know about present- ...[Read More]
For Dummies – How do wildfires impact permafrost? [OR.. a story of ice and fire]
Wildfire – like the ones observed in the Northwest Territories, Canada in 2014 (Fig. 1) – is a natural part of permafrost landscapes, but fires are expected to get more frequent and severe as the climate warms. This could accelerate the degradation of permafrost, with negative consequences on the local and global scale! We have a pretty good understanding of how permafrost responds to fire t ...[Read More]
Ice-hot news: The IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and the Cryosphere under Climate Change
[Credit: Martin Robles on Unsplash]
You have probably heard the name “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)” mentioned frequently over the last few years. The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing science related to climate change and it publishes global assessment reports on this topic every 5 to 10 years. Due to the current urgency of the global climate crisis and the need for more information by decision makers ...[Read More]
Cryo-adventures – Behind the scenes of cryo-fieldwork
Figure 1: On top of Svínafellsjökull glacier, Iceland 2018 [Credit: Saule Akhmetkaliyeva].
As the Arctic is warming faster than the global average, Arctic glaciers are rapidly melting. My research is about the fate of glacial organic carbon when the ice containing it melts. To investigate these processes, I travelled to several glaciers, an activity full of challenges… and rewards! My research Glacier ice covers about 11% of Earth’s land surface, and contains within it a globally ...[Read More]
Did you know? – Proglacial lakes accelerate glacier retreat!
In a global context, New Zealand’s small mountain glaciers often get overlooked and yet they are a beautiful part of New Zealand’s landscape. They are the water towers for the South Island and an essential part of its tourism, thanks to a few undeniable heroes (Frans Josef and Fox Glaciers), but sadly, they may not be as prominent in the future. In this post we review the state of modern glaciatio ...[Read More]