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Postat november 4, 2017november 4, 2017 Full storlek 3004 × 4506

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Last week, we discussed the two heatwaves that hit Europe this summer, and how they might impact the glaciers in the Alps. The impact will be strong, especially if these phenomena keep being repeated. This summer’s heatwave also impacted the Greenland Ice Sheet, causing extensive surface melt and creating what we call melt ponds on the surface. We can define melt ponds as pools of water on the surface resulting from nearby snow and ice melt. These melt ponds are common during the summer in Greenland, but the area they cover is increasing with time, especially with the recurrent heatwaves hitting the ice sheet. The National Snow and Ice Data Centre found that approximately 90% of the surface area of the #Greenland Ice Sheet experienced surface melt between 30th July and 3rd August 2019. This melt event resulted in the loss of 55 billion tons of water, equivalent to 18,000,000 Olympic swimming pools. The MAR model (a regional climate model) simulated the same amount of melt, giving us good confidence in these observations. As you can see in the images from NASA ice on twitter, melt ponds are darker than the ice/snow surrounding them. These pools have a lower albedo than the surface of the ice sheet and therefore absorb more energy, which will accelerate the melt at the surface (this is what we call a positive feedback). Some of the melt ponds can reach up to 10 m depth below the surface, as seen by #ICESat2. Images: @nasa_ice (Twitter), Landsat, ICESat-2 #npolar #norwegianpolarinstitute #norskpolarinstitutt #research #glaciology #glacier #ice #snow #Greenland #science #polarscience #cryosphere #scicomm #forskkomm #heatwave #NASA #Landsat #NSIDC

This summer Europe has basked in two heatwaves, breaking temperature records in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. This was bad news for the glaciers of the Alps. Glaciers in Switzerland were estimated to have lost 800 million tons of snow and ice in just 14 days. In the French Alps a meltwater lake formed at an altitude of 3,500 metres on Mont Blanc. A recent study has suggested that around 50% of glacier volume in the Alps will be lost by 2050, regardless of greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions in the coming decades will determine the fate of the remaining half. The photos show Morteratsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps near St. Moritz in 2010. The second photo shows how far the glacier tongue retreated between 1900 and 1970 and how far it had retreated in the 40 years since 1970. Photos: Ashley Morris References: Matthais Huss, Twitter; H. Zekollari et al., (2019) The Cryosphere. #npolar #norwegianpolarinstitute #norskpolarinstitutt #research #glaciology #glacier #ice #snow #alps #alpine #science #cryosphere #Switzerland #fieldphotofriday #fieldwork #scicomm #forskkomm #landscapephotography #naturephotography #heatwave

You don’t have to go out into the field to see amazing glaciers in Svalbard, just look out of the window of the aeroplane! The flight to Longyearbyen from Oslo or Tromsø takes you over the snowy mountains and glaciers of southern Spitsbergen. Two large glaciers in this area, Nathorstbreen and Strongbreen have recently surged. A surge-type glacier is one that flows extremely slowly for decades, building up a reservoir of ice at higher elevations, then flows quickly for a few years, resulting in thinning at high elevations, extensive crevassing, and thickening and calving front advance at low elevations. In the photos the crevassing on Strongbreen can be seen to extend far up glacier and along its tributaries. Compare this to the slower flowing ice at the bottom of the photos. Photos: Ann Kristin Balto #npolar #norwegianpolarinstitute #norkspolarinstitutt #research #polar #glaciology #glacier #ice #snow #science #polarscience #Svalbard #Arctic #fieldphotofriday #fieldwork #scicomm #forskkomm #aerialphotography #landscapephotography #naturephotography

Name: Jack Kohler Where are you from? USA When did you move to Tromsø? 1998 What do you work with? Glaciology. My main interests are in the relation between climate and glacier mass balance, the movement of water in glaciers and how that affects ice dynamics, detecting glacier change from satellite data, using radar to “see” into the snow and ice, and on the effect of glaciers and snow on Arctic ecosystems. What was you dream job when you were a kid? Hard to say, I had so many different ideas growing up. But one thing for sure, I never harbored any childhood dreams of being a polar scientist: it just turned out that way! What’s the best thing about being a scientist? Wrangling data from the field and working it up afterward to detect changes and understand processes in the natural world. But, a special attraction to being an earth scientist is the fieldwork. My main field area, in northwestern Spitzbergen, is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, and I never cease to be amazed by the ever-varying landscape. What did you study? Geology: first at the University of Pennsylvania, which I took as a minor while finishing a degree in design, and then at the University of Minnesota, where I did my PhD. What’s your funniest or worst field work moment? Every field season I have a “worst moment” having to do with my snowmobile: typically, getting stuck in loose snow or even less fun, in hidden slush ponds. What’s your favorite polar animal? Arctic foxes. Actually it’s kind of a love-hate feeling since they pee on things we leave on the glacier, but it’s amazing to see that they are absolutely everywhere out there in the landscape. No matter how high up the glacier or seemingly inaccessible a location—out in the middle of one the most heavily crevassed and fast-moving glaciers we work on, for example, where we need a helicopter to gain access—we can still find their small paw prints. They are very busy and industrious little creatures. What’s your favorite field work food? M&Ms with peanuts. Nothing else will do. #npolar #polarportraits #polar #fieldphotofriday #fieldwork #Arctic #Svalbard #glacier #glaciology #ice #forskkomm #scicomm

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