Cryosphere

(Frozen water)

The shape of ice crystals cause ice to be less dense than liquid
water This causes Ice to float with about 9% of the ice volume
above water (91% below). A.k.a. the Tip of the iceberg.

Time scales relevant to the cryosphere

87% of ice is in Antarctica

10% Greenland
2.5% ice shelves (mostly Antarctic)
If all Ice melted sea levels would go up by about 65 meters (213 ft)

Over half Earths land mass is part of the cryosphere at some

Time during the year
IPCC 2014 Chapter 4 table 1

Snow cover
Essential for water resources in the western US
Roughly 75% of the Western US fresh water
supply comes from snow pack.

Dendrite: Common six sided ice crystal / snow flake.

January or February have most NH snow cover.

Aside from Antarctica the SH has very little snow cover.

IPCC 2014 Figure 4.19

River and lakes Spring thaw

Most rivers are

thawing earlier and
freezing later.

Alpine Glaciers

Milk Lake 2009

Milk Lake glacier 1988

Most Glaciers around the world are in retreat

Permafrost

Active layer- thaws and refreezes

Permafrost stays frozen
Talik- unfrozen ground

On short time scales warming the tundra could pull more CO2
From the atmosphere. On longer time scales much more CO2
Could be released from the thawed permafrost.

Methane (swamp gas)

Atmospheric Methane increased from 1800 to 1995, was fairly constant

from 1995 to 2005 and has been increasing again since 2005.

Methane possibly released from permafrost?

Methane possibly released from permafrost?

Methane change Since 2005

Methane change Since 2005

Methane change Since 2005

Land Ice

From Grace

See http://www.aber.ac.uk/greenland/Massbalance.html and

Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment

Right: Mass change distribution (2002-2009) across the ice sheet as

determined by GRACE observations. Seems to be accelerating.

Land Ice

http://www.skepticalscience.com/east-antarctica-is-now-losing-ice.html

Ablation: Melt, sublimation, loss from wind, loss from flow

Equilibrium line: Accumulation = Ablation

2010 was an exceptional year for

Greenlands ice cap. Melting
started early and stretched later
in the year than usual. Little
snow fell to replenish the losses.
By the end of the season, much
of southern Greenland had set a
new record, with melting that
lasted 50 days longer than
average.

350 Gt 1 mm sea level rise

Both Antarctica and Greenland have been losing
ice over the past 8 years.

Side view

Ice flow speed increase with distance above ground

Top view:
Ice flow increases
with distance from
valley walls.

Basal melt can provide a lubricant to increase total ice flow.

Ice flow increases with increasing tilt of the mountain

Air bubbles trapped in ice can reveal atmospheric

composition in the past (up to about 600,000 yrs).

Sublimation or calving

When accumulation is greater than ablation in a certain zone

the ice sheet :
a)Grows
b)Shrinks
c)Stays the same size

Sublimation or calving

When accumulation is greater than ablation in a certain

zone the ice sheet :
a)Grows
b)Shrinks
c)Stays the same size

Sea Ice
What happens to the
water level when the
ice melts?
a. Overflows
b. Goes down
c. Stays the same

Sea Ice
What happens to the
water level when the
ice melts?
a. Overflows
b. Goes down
c. Stays the same

From: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/sea_ice.php
The yellow outline on each image shows the median sea ice extent observed by satellite sensors in
September and March from 1979 through 2000.

From: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/sea_ice_south.php

 Average September Arctic Sea ice decreased by about 40 %

From 1980 to 2010.
Sept 2012 had the lowest Arctic sea ice coverage since 1979.

 Average January Arctic Sea ice decreased by about 6% From 1980

to 2010.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/020211.html

This positive feedback suggests that as the artic warms the

warming will be amplified by the loss of insulation that was
once provided by the ice cover.

 Average September (winter) Antarctic Sea ice increased by about 3 %

From 1980 to 2010.