cryosphere
Sign in to savethumb|right|300px|Overview of the cryosphere and its larger components The cryosphere is an umbrella term for those portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form. This includes sea ice, ice on lakes or rivers, snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost). Thus, there is an overlap with the hydrosphere. The cryosphere is an integral part of the global climate system. It also has important feedbacks on the climate system. These feedbacks come from the cryosphere's influence on surface energy and moisture fluxes, clouds, the water cycle, atmospher
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The cryosphere is the name for all the frozen water found on Earth's surface, including sea ice, snow, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost. It plays a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate system through its effects on energy, moisture, clouds, and the water cycle.
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Article
21 sectionsContents
- Definition and terminology
- Properties and interactions
- Residence time and extent
- Surface reflectance
- Thermal properties of cryospheric elements
- Climate change feedback mechanisms
- Components
- Glaciers and ice sheets
- Sea ice
- Frozen ground and permafrost
- Snow cover
- Ice on lakes and rivers
- Changes caused by climate change
- Ice sheet melt
- Decline of glaciers
- Sea ice decline
- Permafrost thaw
- Snow cover decrease
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|right|300px|Overview of the cryosphere and its larger components The cryosphere is an umbrella term for those portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form. This includes sea ice, ice on lakes or rivers, snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost). Thus, there is an overlap with the hydrosphere. The cryosphere is an integral part of the global climate system. It also has important feedbacks on the climate system. These feedbacks come from the cryosphere's influence on surface energy and moisture fluxes, clouds, the water cycle, atmospheric and oceanic circulation.
Through these feedback processes, the cryosphere plays a significant role in the global climate and in climate model response to global changes. Approximately 10% of the Earth's surface is covered by ice, but this is rapidly decreasing. Current reductions in the cryosphere (caused by climate change) are measurable in ice sheet melt, glaciers decline, sea ice decline, permafrost thaw and snow cover decrease.