Ringed seal pupping lair, with the pup in the lair and the female approaching the haul-out hole from the water

Ringed seals are the 'classic' Arctic seal in many regards, being found as far north as the Pole because of their ability to keep…

Climate feedbacks-The connectivity of the positive ice/snow albedo feedback, terrestrial snow and vegetation feedbacks and the negative cloud/radiation feedback

Feedback refers to the modification of a process by changes resulting from the process itself. Positive feedbacks accelerate the process, while negative feedbacks slow…

Arctic sea ice minimum extent in September 1982, 2005 and 2007

The red line indicates the median minimum extent of the ice cover for the period 1979–2000. This figure compares the Arctic sea ice extent…

Temperatures over previous centuries from various proxy records

Evidence from tree rings and other temperature proxies suggests that during the previous 500 years global temperatures were 1.0ºC cooler than those of the…

Shrinking Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya

The tropical Lewis Glacier retreated by more than 800 m between 1893 and 2004 and lost almost 16 m water equivalent of its thickness…

Trends in spring snow cover duration for the Northern Hemisphere, 1970-2004

Examination of regional trends in spring snow-cover duration from 1969–2003 using NOAA snow-cover data shows the western United States to be among the regions…

Water towers of Asia-glaciers, water and population in the greater Himalayas-Hindu Kush-Tien Shan-Tibet region

The Himalayas–Hindu Kush, Kunlun Shan, Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges function as water towers, providing water to people through much of Asia. The…

Annual snowfall pattern for a typical mountain environment, Columbine Pass, Colorado 1971-2000

Mountain snow cover typically develops in the autumn and grows to a maximum depth in early spring. As day length and sun angles increase,…

Overview on glacier changes since the end of the Little Ice Age

Glaciers and ice caps reached their Holocene (the past 10 000 years) maximum extent in most mountain ranges throughout the world towards the end…

Trends in permafrost temperatures in the central and northern Mackenzie Valley, 1984-2006

Temperature monitoring in Canada indicates a warming of shallow permafrost over the last two to three decades. Since the mid-1980s, shallow permafrost (upper 20-30…

Ice-albedo feedback process

In spring, the ice is snow-covered and there is very little open water. Most sunlight is reflected, but some is absorbed. This absorbed sunlight…

Greenland, showing rates of surface-Elevation change between the late 1990s and 2003

Mass-balance estimates for Greenland show thickening at high elevations since the early 1990s at rates that increased to about 4 cm per year after…