Veronika Wild

-Image by Copilot   What Do We Mean by the Cryosphere? Just to recap, the Cryosphere refers to all frozen water on Earth — snow, sea ice, lake and river ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, permafrost, and ice shelves. It forms a major component of the Earth system, strongly influencing climate, oceans, ecosystems and the global energy balance. Although frozen water appears across the globe, the Polar Regions contain its largest and most climate-critical components. I have had to split the Polar section into two parts as well, so watch out for Part II shortly. If you thought things were looking bad in the Alps, the rate of warming in Polar Regions is even faster — closer to three to four times faster than the global average. As one researcher remarked in a journal article, the words "glacially slow" have taken on a new meaning. If we hear little about these changes, it's most likely because because polar regions are vast, remote and seemingly indestructible. T...

  -Image by Copilot AI It was World Glacier Day on March 21, so it seems like a good time to be talking about the Cryosphere. By Cryosphere, we mean all those places on earth which are, or were until recently covered in snow and ice, not a place where you sit in the corner and cry your eyes out, though after reading all this, you may well want to do that too. Alpine Regions, Glaciers, Polar Regions and Permafrost Zones are all showing signs of global warming and Climate Change. This post will mostly be about Alpine Regions, their problems and some solutions. In 6b. we will move on to Polar Regions and Permafrost Zones.  For a very good overview of how Climate Change is affecting the European Alps see the excellent video by DW  (42 mins) it covers everything from Europe's diminishing ski fields and glaciers, to the way melting permafrost is destablising mountains and the impact on biodiversity. Unfortunately I didn't see this film until after I had written most of this...