CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Cryospheric Sciences

Did you know? Machine learning can help us understand the cryosphere!

A bar chart showing in which years how many publications included machine learning.

    Recently, Machine Learning (ML) has emerged as a powerful tool within cryospheric sciences, offering innovative and effective solutions for observing, modelling and understanding the frozen regions of the Earth. From learning snowfall patterns and predicting avalanche dynamics to speeding up the process of modelling ice sheets, ML has transformed cryospheric sciences and bears …[Read More]

A First-Timer’s Journey to the Heart of the Himalayas

The route of our journey from Srinagar to Panikhar.

I am Krishnanand J, a graduate student in glaciology from IISER Pune, India. This is a story about my very first field trip to the Himalaya. Coming from a small village in Kerala, which is the southernmost state of India, going to the Himalaya is considered a big thing. It is like a camel visiting …[Read More]

World Mental Health Day 2024 with a focus on workplace

World Mental Health Day 2024 with a focus on workplace

Friday the 10 October, was World Mental Health Day, a day that was founded by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992. This year’s official theme focuses specifically on mental health in the work environment. So let’s take a look at what this means for the field of academia and the cryosphere specifically. …[Read More]

Friday the 13th – an unlucky day for sea ice?

Thin, small sea ice floats on the dark waters.

On this September 13th, coinciding to be a “Friday 13th”, we wanted to scan the cryo-history for expeditions started, sunken ships that day, and mountain myths. And we did find that. But as autumn approaches in the Northern hemisphere, the spookiest story of all was this one: the unlucky timing of the Arctic sea ice …[Read More]

Dreaming & reading about fieldwork – summer blog break 2024

A person is kneeling down at a brown pond, all covered in mosquito net, waterproof gear, kitchen gloves and a pancake flipping spatula.

  As we are starting into our annual blog summer break, we reflect on what summer can mean for polar researchers (including some fieldwork saudades). As an Arctic or Alpine cryo-scientist, chances are that you are somewhere in between vacation, fieldwork or trying to work through data while everyone else is free. If you, like …[Read More]

Women of Cryo VII: Making Fieldwork More Inclusive

a drawing of women doing different scientific activities, with the words 'women of cryo' written

Women make up 50.8% of the world’s population, yet fewer than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Of this percentage, women of colour comprise around 5%, with less than 1% represented in geoscience faculty positions. Women are published less, paid less, and do not progress as far in their careers as men. Even within our EGU community, women account …[Read More]

Cryobook review: The Quickening

The cover of Elizabeth Rush's book "The Quickening"

Even before its publication, my partner stumbled over the book The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush on Twitter and send it to me. In this book, Rush describes her journey to Thwaites Glacier and – as I was very curious about it – I bought it immediately after its release. It is not only documentary work …[Read More]