The weathering crust of ice sheets or glaciers is a layer of porous ice, bordering on impermeable ice below and influencing the meltwater storage and production. This physically complex environment harbors a wide range of microorganisms that themselves affect the weathering crust and contribute to darkening of ice surfaces. The two factors – microbial community …[Read More]
Measuring ice surface elevation changes with satellite laser altimeters flying hundreds of kilometres above Earth tells us where the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are thinning or thickening and how much they contribute to sea level rise. Beyond that though, it can also reveal hidden activity of subglacial lakes filling and draining beneath …[Read More]
Ice sheet models are awesome tools that help us learn and predict the fate of ice sheets under human-induced climate change. However, all models have errors. What types of uncertainties exist in an ice sheet model and how can we quantify some of them efficiently? Check out our recipe to quantify one type of uncertainty …[Read More]
To us, the cryosphere has always been a priority. It is our field of interest, research, maybe passion, it is the stuff that gets us excited. Now, the cryosphere also became a priority to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). In today’s post we cover a recent news item introducing this very decision made during WMO’s …[Read More]
As Antarctica’s mass loss increases, the threat of crossing tipping points both in the ice sheet and the surrounding Southern Ocean is increasing. But what actually is a tipping point? Have tipping points already been crossed in the past? And what might the future hold? What do we mean by a “tipping point”? Scientifically speaking, …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
A 10km-long, 4-km-wide and 350m-high cavity has recently been discovered under one of the fastest-flowing glaciers in Antarctica using different airborne and satellite techniques (see this press release and this study). This enormous cavity previously contained 14 billion tons of ice and formed between 2011 and 2016. This indicates that the bottom of the …[Read More]
One of the most challenging research questions to address in the Arctic is how freshwater discharge from Greenland’s largest glaciers affects the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Just getting close to the calving fronts of these large marine-terminating glaciers is difficult. Fjords, hundreds of kilometers long and full of icebergs which shift with the wind and …[Read More]
The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are major players in future sea level rise. Still, there is a lot about these ice sheets we do not understand. Under the umbrella of the World Climate Research Programme, the international scientific community is coming together to improve ice sheet modelling efforts to better grasp the implications of …[Read More]
It is Easter weekend! And as we do not want you to forget about our beloved cryosphere, we provide you with a picture nearly as colourful as the Easter eggs: very blue icebergs! What makes them so special? This is what this Image of the Week is about… What are icebergs made of? Icebergs are …[Read More]
