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Post from a Scientist: Tracking our Ice Budget

mini-SAM_2476 — Trekking Alaska’s Kennicott Glacier

I have always loved winter and math. Getting a PhD in glaciology connects me to both these loves. I started my PhD in glaciology one year ago, and so far it has taken me all the way from home mountain glaciers in my Montana backyard to the Greenland ice sheet.

I will never forget the first time I visited Glacier National Park in northern Montana. Mountain landscapes are always pretty but this was on a whole other level. Snow-capped peaks soar above waterfalls cascading down steep burgundy-colored cliffs, pouring into bright turquoise lakes, trimmed by bright green, lush forests outfitted with fern and pine. Now I am lucky enough to live within driving distance of these great vistas, and even luckier to get to study the glaciers responsible for carving such a tremendous landscape.

Glaciologists keep track of glaciers just like an accountant keeps track of a bank account, only instead of money, it is snow and ice in the ledger. This accounting exercise is called mass balance. We know that the glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) have had a negative mass balance (meaning the mass has decreased) for decades, but the accounting records are in need of organization and analysis. My research on the mass balance of a glacier in GNP will collect and reconcile these accounting records. When the climate warms, small mountain glaciers retreat rapidly. However, once the glaciers have retreated up into the higher mountains, conditions are colder and more shaded. So… will the glaciers respond more to the general trend of regional climate warming and disappear, or will they re-equilibrate and stick around in their new, higher elevation locations? Glaciers in GNP affect local ecology and economy to a small degree, but the real impact of studying these processes in Montana is that we can hopefully gain understanding of mountain glacier processes that can be applied in other mountain ranges around the world.

The Greenland ice sheet is a huge mass of moving ice twice the size of Texas, that simultaneously flows towards the ocean along its coastal perimeter, and is regenerated with new snow every winter at its highest inland elevations. The way that ice flows near the perimeter is affected by the shape of the land it flows across, and as it turns out the Greenland ice sheet is flowing across dramatic mountain ranges. Imagine Rocky Mountains under ice as deep as multiple sky-scrapers are high. My research in Greenland investigates the way that mountain valleys buried deep under huge expanses of ice affect ice flow, which is important to understand so that we can get the numbers right on predictions of future sea level rise.

This week I am enjoying discussions about Greenland and Montana ice with other glaciologists in McCarthy, Alaska. McCarthy is a small mountain village nestled at the foot of Kennicott glacier. The time here is about meeting other glaciologists and talking glaciology in an impressive (and awesome) environment. Snow, ice and math – even in the summer!

– Caitlyn, University of Montana, USA

Post from a Scientist: The Speed of Glacier

I can still remember the first time that I discovered that glaciers could flow fast, similar to a raging river. I had always thought of glaciers as these stagnant, large bodies of ice. If they moved, it had to be at a glacial pace of only a few inches per year. However, there are regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet that flow up to 100 feet per day! My research focuses on these fast-flowing regions.

About half of the Greenland Ice Sheet drains into fast-flowing outlet glaciers. These glaciers terminate in the ocean, where chunks of ice break off as icebergs. As you might expect, the ice that is contact with the ocean is sensitive to changes in the ocean temperature. Over the last decade, the ocean waters near Greenland have warmed, and consequently, the ice in contact with the ocean has melted more than usual. As a result, many of the outlet glaciers have retreated and accelerated. However, it’s not a simple 1-to-1 relationship: more ocean warming does not necessarily lead to faster glacier retreat, and that is where my research comes in. I’m interested in understanding the additional parameters that influence the glacier response to climate change. Which parameters are the most important for predicting future glacier loss and consequently future sea level rise? For example, the depth of the fjord floor can greatly influence the glacier’s response to a small change in its terminus position. If the glacier retreats into deeper water, then less of the glacier front is in contact with the fjord walls and floor. As the fjord walls and floor provide resistance to flow through friction, the reduction of this contact causes the glacier to flow faster and therefore decrease. This mechanism occurs until the glacier retreats into shallower water, where a larger portion of its front is in contact with the fjord walls and floor.

Although I have been studying glaciers for over six years now, I’m always amazed at how quickly glaciers can change and how differently they can behave. It definitely keeps things exciting!

– Laura, University of Washington, USA

Post from a Scientist: Ocean Terminating Glaciers

Alistair Everett blog - Helheim Glacier — Helheim Glacier

So, I’m sure all of you guys have had a drink with ice cubes in at some point, and it’s probably pretty obvious to you that the ice in your glass melts much quicker if your drink is warmer! This everyday, seemingly obvious effect, is what I study – but on a much larger scale. All around the world, and particularly at the poles, there are glaciers which enter the ocean. That effect that you see in your glass of Coke happens to glaciers which are more than one and a half times the height of the Empire State Building and three times the length of New York’s Central Park!

But, if it’s as obvious as the ice in your drink, why study it? Well there are a few more effects going on at “ocean terminating” glaciers – combined with the fact that it is much easier to see what is happening in your glass than what is happening in ocean water more than 500m deep! In addition to the temperature of the ocean, we also have complicated circulation patterns caused by water that is released from the glacier way below the ocean’s surface. This constantly mixes water at the ice front, and leads to faster melting – you can see this effect as well, by swirling your glass of Coke around and you’ll see that the ice melts faster than if you just let it stand still. For glaciers, this is such a complicated process that I use a computer model to reproduce what is happening and allow it to be more thoroughly investigated.

But why do we need to study this? Well, it looks like the melt rates at the front of these glaciers can have a huge impact on how quickly the glacier loses ice – and since these glaciers drain the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, there is a lot of ice to lose! Also, consider that this ice goes straight into the ocean, directly impacting global sea levels. It’s really important that we understand how sea levels might be affected by melting ice, so that we can be sure that coastal cities and populations are well protected in the future.

– Alistair, Swansea University, UK

Post from a Scientist: Virtual Glaciers, Real Consequences

Gday All,
My name is Mark and I come from Australia. Yes, I know, why does an Australian care about ice and snow? Isn’t it all sun and beaches down there? Even though Australia has no glaciers, the effects can be felt there too? How? Sea Level Rise!

While the situation in the image above isn’t likely to happen overnight, sea level is rising slowly each year. My research aims to improve our knowledge of how fast sea level is rising by investigating a specific region (Antarctica’s Amery Ice Shelf Region) that could possibly increase the rate that sea level is rising. As some of you may know, Antarctica is a giant slab of ice that is up to 4km (2.5miles) thick, and if it all melted the ocean would be 60 metres (180ft) higher then it is today! So, even small changes can have large increases in sea level. I use a computer model to simulate a “virtual world” version of my region, and then “play god” in it. I can change various factors and see how they change the rate of sea level rise. I could have temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Antarctic, and melt all the ice away if I wanted! But that isn’t exactly realistic, like the poor bloke in the image below is finding out.

The hard aspect of researching within these virtual worlds is that they have to be far more simple then the real world. It’s just too hard to predict everything that could happen. Imagine trying to predict where and when every single leaf in a forest would fall. You couldn’t, but you could make assumptions to make it easier, which is what we do in these virtual worlds. This summer school is allowing me to connect with other researchers, find out about others who work in the virtual world, and try to improve my own virtual world of my region of interest, in order to give the best estimate of sea level rise.

Cheers,
– Mark, Institue for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACECRC), University of Tasmania, Australia

Post from a Scientist: Dirty Glaciers

If you have been hiking in the Swiss Alps in the last 10-15 years, you may have realized that the glaciers are not very white, but rather grayish – black and dirty. But what’s this stuff on the ice? This is exactly what I am interested in, because there are many different theories, such as rocks, algae, dirt… In any case, all of this material influences the ice underneath, maybe accelerating melting, or maybe protecting it from the Sun’s radiation.

This summer school is an opportunity for me to come see glaciers in Alaska and to meet other young fellows that work and experience similar things, and chat as you would chat with someone about your favorite travel stories. It’s about sharing passion and experiences, but also to learn from each other and to hear stories about others’ projects. So, you can imagine how exciting such a summer school far away from home is, compared to normal classes back home.

So, coming back to the “dirty glaciers” in Switzerland – they are actually not the only dirty glaciers on the globe. We also have dirty glaciers in the Himalayas, the Andes, and the Rocky Mountains. Just what are these materials actually doing to the glacier? It’s similar to what you feel if you sit outside in the Sun with a white t-shirt on, and then change into a black t-shirt. You feel much warmer in the black t-shirt, right? This is the same way that the glaciers feel, and their reaction is enhanced melting. Regardless of what these materials are or how they get onto the ice, they affect people living in the surrounding areas, as many regions depend strongly on these glaciers for drinking water. As we all get thirsty, at some point this topic will maybe affect more of us than we thought.

– Kathrin, Fribourg University, Switzerland

Post from a Scientist: Why Does Ice Matter?

mini-Noel blog_IMG_8438 — Taking glacier measurements

Why does ice matter? You may have heard news reports about how the Earth’s glaciers and ice caps are melting, and you may have asked: “Why is this news?” “Is this something that will actually affected my life?” “Is it all just about polar bears?” I myself come from a country with no ice. Ireland has no glaciers or permanent snow cover, and yet it too, along with every country in the world, will be affected by the future of ice.

I have recently begun a study to examine how mountain glaciers melt, and how the weather conditions over the glacier affect this. Imagine an ice cube taken from the freezer and placed in a glass outside on a hot, sunny day; the ice will melt, and how quickly it melts will depend on how warm and sunny it is. The ice on the surface of a glacier behaves in a similar way, and I hope to explore how changing weather conditions due to climate change will affect the melting and survival of glaciers.

Meltwater from glaciers plays an important role in the daily lives of communities in the valleys below, as a source of water for drinking and agriculture. The long term survival of these glacier will determine the future of these communities. However, the effects of melting glaciers can be felt much further afield. Hydropower dams have been built on many rivers fed by glaciers to provide electricity, which reduces the demand for oil. This both helps to keep down the price of gas at the pump, and reduces carbon emissions which contribute to climate change. Increased melting of glaciers will add water to the oceans, raising the sea level on every coastline in the world. Even countries far from any ice will be more susceptible to flooding, costing those who are directly affected as they attempt to rebuild or adjust, and costing communities as a whole due to increased taxes and insurance costs.

And about the polar bears? Well, it is a little about them too, and the beautiful environments they live in. Whether these environments have an impact on our daily lives or not, to watch them fade away, and to do nothing to help, would make the world a less special place to be.

– Noel, University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada

Science Speaking for All

Glaciers are magnificent, colossal masses of ice, but don’t be fooled by the seemingly still, white, beautiful ice. Glaciers are dynamic forces of nature, and the research represented by the scientists here is as diverse as glaciers are stunning. How do glaciers move? Why do glaciers suddenly become more active and “surge?” What is happening to the snow, ice, water, and rock that are all interacting on the surface of the glacier, at the base of the glacier, and within the glacier? How do we use computer models to understand and predict how it all works? And ultimately, how do changes in climate affect glaciers, and how do changes in glaciers in turn affect the world?

All of these scientists certainly know their stuff, but my role here is to work with all of them on how they can effectively communicate their stuff to non-scientists. I am leading a couple of workshops for scientists with this goal in mind, which are a little different than your everyday lecture. Here are some of the things we have done so far:

In groups, one person acted as “scientist” while two others acted as “the public.” “Scientists” had to describe to “the public” a drawing on a piece of paper (with no charades), and “the public” had to recreate the drawing from that description (with no questions allowed). The idea: when speaking to the public, how you can get them on the same page with you.

mini-SAM_2070 — Getting “on the same page”

I asked scientists to think of a meaningful memory and write one-word descriptions on post-it notes. Was it fun, surprising, visceral, a family experience, a learning moment…? The idea: when you interact with the public, you want to create a meaningful memory for them.

mini-SAM_2103 — Meaningful memories on the log cabin wall

I challenged scientists to figure out what was inside a box, only by looking through a small hole in the side. They could stare into the hole, try to aim a flashlight in the hole, shake the box, or anything they wanted to try, except for opening or damaging the box. The idea: there is a pleasure inherent in the process of scientific discovery, whether you know what is in the box or not.

mini-SAM_2073 — The pleasure of investigating

At the end of the workshop, I asked them to use some of these strategies and write a blog entry that I could share with you here. So you will be able to get to know each of them and learn about what they do and why they do it, as they try to answer those big questions. And just maybe you’ll be inspired to discover more for yourself. Check back soon to hear more directly from each of them!

The Most Amazing Conference Poster Session Ever

Each student was asked to bring a poster to the Summer School, like the kind they would use to present their work at professional conferences. We set up a conference-style “poster session” for all students and instructors to be able to see and discuss each other’s research. But it was a little different than at an ordinary conference. This time, some posters were tacked to the exterior walls of the old hardware store or hung from laundry lines with clothespins, while others adorned the side of the outdoor shower. But the quality of the science and the passion of the presenters is what really grabbed everyone’s focus. It was just a conference that happened to be out in the fresh mountain air.

The Plan and The Porphyry

This summer school will be intense – long enough to learn and experience a lot, but short enough such that instructors from all over the world could give their time and help lead the next generation of glacier researchers. The goal is to not only to learn, but to be inspired by others. Students might just learn something from someone in a different field that helps them see their research in a new way, or meet someone that may become a future collaborator and change the course of their research.

So, how to create that kind of environment… every morning, we will have presentations from instructors, and every afternoon, instructors (including me) will work with students on projects related to the topics discussed in the morning. Lectures may be (relatively) easy or more difficult, and projects will be team-based, and may just be too complex to completely work out (kind of like how scientific research works in general). At the end, students will report what they have accomplished in our own little mini-conference. And in between, we’ll go out on the glacier and see how things work first-hand!

mini-SAM_2056 — “The Porphyry” (porphyry means a hard rock consisting of crystals)

Lectures and project exercises will take place across from the hardware store, at “The Porphyry.” This is a proper log cabin, with a 5-foot door, cast iron pots hanging from ceiling logs… and a projector and whiteboard for presentations. (Just take off your shoes before entering.)

Inside The Porphyry, we will be learning about…
Continuum mechanics
Glacier mass balance
Glacier meteorology and energy balance
Tidewater glaciers
Remote sensing
Inverse methods
Glacier geomorphology
Glacier hydrology
Thermodynamics
Glacier mass changes
Ice sheet modeling
…and science communication

Did I mention it would be intense? If you don’t know what those things are in that list, you’re probably not alone. But hopefully we (including you and me) will all learn more from the students themselves. As the instructor for Science Communication during the summer school, I am going to work with students on just how they can tell you all about it. So check back on the blog for what they have to say!

mini-SAM_2067 — Learning, inside The Porphyry

Power, Toilets, and Bears

When we first arrived in McCarthy, we got the run-down of how things work from the super knowledgeable and helpful Wrangell Mountains Center staff, which included rules and safety. If you want to visit or live in McCarthy, here’s what you have to know. As we were told, it’s about “power and toilets and bears.”

We are off the grid, so power only comes from solar panels and generators. Charge your phone, computer, camera only in daytime, and preferably only when it’s sunny. Electricity is expensive.

mini-SAM_2113 — A McCarthy home, with solar panel

Meals are in the old hardware store, thanks to the Wrangell Mountains Center. They are prepared for us, served buffet-style, and are always yummy, and then we all wash our own dishes. Everyone conributes.

mini-SAM_2048 — Yummy meals and good company in the old hardware store…

mini-SAM_2098 — …or outside the hardware store

Instructors are staying in the 6 room backpacker’s hotel, while students are camping. For campers, there is an outdoor toilet and shower, and hot water comes on request from “Ernestine the Hot Water Tank.”

As for bears, if you go out for a walk on your own, be sure to “make noise and say ‘hey bear,’” so bears know you’re there. And never keep food in your tent. All good pointers. I don’t have a picture of a bear yet. I really want one, but I guess I should be careful what I wish for…