Cryosphere
The cryosphere concerns all the frozen water on the surface of the Earth, or put another way, the zone where snow, ice and permafrost affect the landscape and the processes that operate there.
Vast amounts of water are tied up in the ice sheets and glaciers of the Arctic and Antarctica. If these melt the water will flow into the sea and cause changes to sea level and the ocean currents, and will alter the global transport of heat.
Reduced permafrost can not only reduce slope stability with consequent natural hazards, but also lead to the release of methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas. The research group is thus an important contributor to the Department’s climate research group.
About the group
Our research is therefore often related to ice, glaciers and permafrost, either in the polar regions or at high altitudes as in the Alps and Himalayas.
See also the research groups