The Global Cryosphere: Past, Present, and Future

Description

Recent studies indicate that - due to climate change - the Earth is undergoing rapid changes in all cryospheric components, including polar sea ice shrinkage, mountain glacier recession, thawing permafrost, and diminishing snow cover. This book provides a comprehensive summary of all components of the Earth's cryosphere, reviewing their history, physical and chemical characteristics, geographical distributions, and projected future states. This new edition has been completely updated throughout, and provides state-of-the-art data from GlobSnow-2 CRYOSAT, ICESAT, and GRACE. It includes a comprehensive summary of cryospheric changes in land ice, permafrost, freshwater ice, sea ice, and ice sheets. It discusses the models developed to understand cryosphere processes and predict future changes, including those based on remote sensing, field campaigns, and long-term ground observations. Boasting an extensive bibliography, over 120 figures, and end-of-chapter review questions, it is an ideal resource for students and researchers of the cryosphere.

Roger G. Barry was Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder from 1977 to 2008, and Professor of Geography from 1968 to 2010. He was appointed a University of Colorado Distinguished Professor in 2004. From 2012 to 2014 he was Director of the International CLIVAR Project Office, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK. He was a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and his awards included the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Nobel Peace Prize (as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team), a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow, a Humboldt Prize Fellow, and a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Environmental Sciences (RAEN). Roger passed away peacefully in Boulder, Colorado in March, 2018. Thian Yew Gan is a professor at the University of Alberta, Canada, research ambassador of the German Academic Exchange Service, a fellow of American Society of Civil Engineers, a LEWI fellow of Hong Kong Baptist University, and a lead author for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6-WGI) of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). Dr Gan is internationally renowned for his innovative contributions to hydroclimatology, cryospheric science, climate change, remote sensing, and water resources management. He has received twelve international fellowships, an award from the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET), and has been a visiting professor to Germany, France, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and United States of America.