Ice sheets and glaciers

Glacier

Skating in a small ice cave below Byron Glacier, in the Chugach National Forest of Alaska.

Year: 2017


Photographer: Paxson Woelber (edited by Frameworks)


Interventions

Melting glacier ice, Alpefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet quadrupled over the past two decades, contributing a quarter of the observed global sea-level rise.

Year: 2015


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

Several high mountain communities around the world have a long history of building barriers and other constructions that trap or hold meltwater by refreezing it (Nüsser et al. 2019b).

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet quadrupled over the past two decades, contributing a quarter of the observed global sea-level rise.

Year: 2015


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

One method to increase the albedo of individual glaciers already in use is to wrap them in reflective materials.

Antarctic Peninsula 2

In general, a glacier is formed and maintained by a cycle of snow falling at high altitudes, melt occurring at lower altitudes and or discharge into the sea.

Year: 2016


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

Increasing precipitation on a glacier would add to the glacier's mass, thereby directly countering the melting. Also, the snow that falls would increase glacial albedo, and thereby reduce the amount of absorbed energy.

Glacier in Southern Greenland

The loss of ice in Greenland and the shrinking of glaciers in other parts of the Arctic currently contribute up to 40% of the average 3 mm global sea level rise per year. A number of studies suggest that Greenland could be a major contributor to a potential rise in sea levels of 0,5 to 1 meter by the end of the century.

Year: 2013


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

There is a suggestion to use localized surface technologies to create artificial snow cover on mountain glaciers Oerlemans et al. (2017).

Glacier mouth, Svalbard

Glaciers cover around 59% of Svalbard, which is made up of four islands, Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Edgerøya and Barentsrøya. Many of the glaciers in this area are known to surge, meaning that for 100 years they can remain still and silent, only to suddenly and violently move, advancing from the upper area of the glacier towards the mouth.

Year: 2015


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

Engineer Paul Klinkman has suggested increasing the water content around glaciers and ice sheets to increase precipitation over them (see Klinkman Solar Design, U2).

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park (1)

Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet quadrupled over the past two decades, contributing a quarter of the observed global sea-level rise.

Year: 2015


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of locked-in warming (State of the Cryosphere report 2022).
Glacier in Southern Greenland (1)

The loss of ice in Greenland and the shrinking of glaciers in other parts of the Arctic currently contribute up to 40% of the average 3 mm global sea level rise per year. A number of studies suggest that Greenland could be a major contributor to a potential rise in sea levels of 0,5 to 1 meter by the end of the century.

Year: 2013


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

It has been suggested that ice sheets could be stabilized by reducing the lubrication effect of water below the ice sheet.

Glacier mouth, Krossfjorden, Svalbard

Krossfjorden lies within the Spitsbergen National Park in the Svalbard archipelago. The mountain formations in this area represent different geological periods and the site is recognized as an important monitoring station for climate variations. Lucky visitors to the area might witness the calving of ice into the sea from one of the five surrounding fjords.

Year: 2015


Photographer: Peter Prokosch

It has recently been suggested that hollow glass microspheres (HGM, see also see sea ice albedo increase) could be used to increase the albedo of mountain glaciers and thereby slow their melt.