CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Arctic

Image of the Week — Looking back at 2016

Image of the Week — Looking back at 2016

I cannot believe that a full year has passed since this very cute pink unicorn wished you a Happy New Year. Yet, over the past  12 months our blog has attracted more than 16,200 visits.  And the blog analytics show that you, our dear readers, are based not only in Europe but literally all over the world! With 67 new posts published in only 52 weeks, it’s more than likely that you missed a few inte ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Goodness gracious, great balls of ice!

Image of the Week – Goodness gracious, great balls of ice!

At first glance our image of the week may look like an ordinary stoney beach…but if you look more closely you will see that this beach is not, in fact, covered in stones or pebbles but balls of ice! We have written posts about many different weird and wonderful ice formations and phenomena (e.g. hair ice or ice tsunamis) here at the EGU Cryosphere blog and here is another one to add to the l ...[Read More]

Black Carbon: the dark side of warming in the Arctic

Black Carbon: the dark side of warming in the Arctic

When it comes to global warming, greenhouse gases – and more specifically CO2 – are the most often pointed out. Fewer people know however that tiny atmospheric particles called ‘black carbon’ also contribute to the current warming. This post presents a paper my colleague and I recently published in nature communications. Our study sheds more light into the chemical make-up of black car ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Listening to the Snow

Image of the Week — Listening to the Snow

When working in the middle of an ice sheet, you rarely get to experience the amazing wildlife of the polar regions. So what are we doing hundreds of kilometres from the coast with an animal tracker device? We are listening to the snow of course! It is not crazy; It is what Image of the Week today is all about! Going Wireless In June 2016, Liz Bagshaw and I travelled to the EGRIP (East Greenland Ic ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Satellite Measurements of Arctic Sea Ice

Image of the Week – Satellite Measurements of Arctic Sea Ice

Sea ice is an important part of the Earth’s climate system. When sea ice forms, it releases heat and salt. When sea ice melts, it takes up heat and adds freshwater to the salty ocean water. It is also important for the exchange of energy between the atmosphere and the ocean surface, and for the ocean currents that transport warm and cold water from the equator to the poles and back. The main route ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Arctic porthole, Arctic portal

Image of the Week — Arctic porthole, Arctic portal

No need to be a superhero to momentarily escape your everyday life! For that you, can just rely on the EGU Cryosphere Blog, which cares for taking you on trips to all sorts of remote and cool places (OK, OK we have to admit that some of these places are indisputably cold 🙂). The picture of this week was taken through the porthole of a boat in the middle of Isfjorden, one of the largest fjord in Sv ...[Read More]

Image of the week — The warming effect of the decline of Arctic Sea Ice

Image of the week — The warming effect of the decline of Arctic Sea Ice

One of the most dramatic signals of Earth’s recent warming has been the precipitous decline of the Arctic sea ice. While the sea-ice decline is in response to warming ocean and atmosphere, it also has an important feed-back on the climate itself. Solar radiation and albedo Earth’s main energy source is solar radiation. This solar radiation is either absorbed in the atmosphere or at the ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – See How Seasonal Sea Ice Decline Differs!

Image of the Week – See How Seasonal Sea Ice Decline Differs!

Why do we care about sea ice in the first place? Sea ice is important for several components of the climate system. Due to its high albedo, sea ice reflects a high amount of the incoming solar radiation and is therefore relevant for the Earth’s energy budget. Sea ice inhibits the exchange of heat, moisture and momentum between ocean and atmosphere, which usually occur at the sea surface. Whe ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Happy ValentICE’s day

Image of the Week — Happy ValentICE’s day

On the eve of 14 February, love and little hearts are everywhere, even trapped in lake ice! The EGU Cryosphere blog team wishes you a happy Valentine’s Day 🙂 Behind this nice picture, there is also science This picture was taken during a laboratory experiment that aimed to reproduce the bubbles observed in Arctic lake ice in the winter. In this shot, we can see two types of gas bubbles in th ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Future Decline of sea-ice extent in the Arctic (from IPCC)

Image of the Week — Future Decline of sea-ice extent in the Arctic (from IPCC)

The Arctic sea-ice extent has declined in the past 20 years and its future is uncertain. In the end, greenhouse gas emissions will determine the impact on the sea-ice from man-made climate change through radiative forcing (i.e. Representative Concentration Pathways or RCPs). The COP21 can determine the path we will follow and which course we will take to reduce emissions. Reduction in sea-ice cove ...[Read More]