Cryospheric science articles from across Nature Portfolio

The erosion of melting permafrost in the coastal Arctic Ocean is projected to lower the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, triggering unexpected carbon–climate feedbacks in the Arctic region.

Summer snow accumulation and its albedo effect on Arctic sea ice are controlled by the Arctic Oscillation atmospheric circulation pattern, according to a combined modelling and remote sensing analysis.

This study shows that decreased surface albedo leads to significant cooling from the aerosol direct radiative effect, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, moderating the expected warming from surface albedo reduction.

The study reconstructs 16 new time series for rock glacier flow in North America, marking the first for the continent. Analysis shows 2-3 fold accelerations in surface velocities over the past 60-70 years, linked to rising air temperatures.

Growing season nitrous oxide emissions from thermokarst can be significant and may influence greenhouse gas budgets, according to flux measurements from the North Slope of Alaska.

This study presents an open-source Python library, GPSat, which uses Gaussian process models to interpolate satellite altimetry data. With the efficient scaling of GPSat, the authors can reconstruct complete images of high-resolution sea ice fields.

Emily Fedders explains how Gamma Portable Radar Interferometery can be used to estimate strain in sea ice.

The erosion of melting permafrost in the coastal Arctic Ocean is projected to lower the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, triggering unexpected carbon–climate feedbacks in the Arctic region.

For millennia, permafrost landscapes have gradually grown the foundation for a capillary hydrologic system. It is now being activated by unusual warmth.

Even though approaches to artificially reduce local glacier melt have been developed, they face considerable challenges on the larger scale. To mitigate the negative effects of an imminent loss of mountain glaciers, preserving the ice by reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains the most effective solution.

Rahul Dey describes how high-resolution digital imaging of ice core layers can be used to infer paleoclimatic changes.