Cryospheric Sciences

Ice-hot news: A cryo-summary of the new IPCC assessment report!

Clara Burgard, David Docquier, Maria Scheel and Larissa van der Laan May 13, 2022

Figure 1: An illustration of the Vernagtferner glacier in Austria, under the influence of climate change. Painting by Larissa van der Laan, based on historical photographs compiled by Markus Weber.

We have waited eight years for it, and it is finally out: the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (a.k.a. « IPCC AR6 »)! And it is more than 10,000 pages long across Working Groups! Fortunately, a synthesis report integrating the findings of all three working groups should be released in Autumn 2022. However, we, at the EGU Cryosphere Blog, thought it might be us ...[Read More]

Ice-hot news: The IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and the Cryosphere under Climate Change

Laura H. Rasmussen, Clara Burgard and Jenny Arthur October 30, 2019

[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]

Image of the Week — Climate change and disappearing ice

Sophie Berger November 10, 2017

The first week of the Climate Change summit in Bonn (COP 23 for those in the know) has been marked by Syria’s decision to sign the Paris Accord, the international agreement that aims at tackling climate change. This decision means that the United States would become the only country outside the agreement if it were to complete the withdrawal process vowed by President Trump. In this context ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Climate Change and the Cryosphere

Sophie Berger November 11, 2016

Schematic summary of the dominant observed variations in the cryosphere. [Credit: fig 4.25 from IPCC (2013) ].

While the first week of COP22 – the climate talks in Marrakech – is coming to an end, the recent election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States casts doubt over the fate of the Paris Agreement and more generally the global fight against climate change. In this new political context, we must not forget about the scientific evidence of climate change! Our figure of the week, tod ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Ice Sheets and Sea Level Rise (from IPCC)

Sophie Berger November 27, 2015

(Upper) Distribution of ice loss determined from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) time-variable gravity for (a) Antarctica and (b) Greenland, shown in centimetres of water per year (cm of water yr –1 ) for the period 2003–2012. (Lower) The assessment of the total loss of ice from glaciers and ice sheets in terms of mass (Gt) and sea level equivalent (mm). The contribution from glaciers excludes those on the periphery of the ice sheets. (Credit: IPCC (2013), Assessment Report 5, Working Group I, Technical Summary , Figure TS.3, p41)

Context On the eve of the COP21, it is of paramount importance to recall how strongly the cryosphere is affected by Climate Change. Today, we present the impact of melting ice on sea level rise, as it is presented in the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Quick facts -Since 1992, the Glaciers, Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets have risen the sea level by 14 ...[Read More]