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You know that moment when you see a sad polar bear on the news and immediately change the channel? Here's what nobody tells you — that ice you just ignored is the thermostat for your weather, your water, and the ground underneath entire cities.
In this episode, we're diving into the cryosphere — Earth's full system of glaciers, sea ice, snowpack, and permafrost — and why losing it is one of the most dangerous, underexplained things happening on the planet right now. We're talking glacial lakes quietly filling up above densely populated valleys, 1.5 trillion tons of frozen carbon that's starting to wake up, and a jet stream getting so wobbly it's turning rainstorms into week-long disaster events. Oh, and the communities absorbing all of this? Responsible for less than 1% of the emissions that caused it.
Ice is not decoration. Ice is infrastructure. By the end of this episode, you'll never look at a flood, a drought, or a hurricane the same way again.
Works Cited
"10 Things: All About Ice." NASA Sea Level Change Portal, NASA.
"Albedo." Earthdata, NASA.
"Albedo and Climate." SciEd, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
"Arctic Ocean Warming." PMEL Arctic Zone, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
"Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content." Climate.gov, NOAA.
"ELOKA: Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Glaciers." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Ice Sheets." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Indigenous Knowledge Contributions." Arctic Portal.
"Methane Emissions Are Driving Climate Change. Here's How to Reduce Them." UN Environment Programme, UNEP.
"Quick Facts About Sea Ice." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Sea Ice." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Sea Ice Today." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"The Cryosphere." National Ocean Service, NOAA.
"Thawing Grounds, Rising Stakes: The Importance of Including Permafrost Emissions in Climate Policy." The Arctic Institute.
"Thawing Permafrost." Arctic WWF, World Wildlife Fund.
"Utah Snowpack." Utah Division of Water Resources.
"What Is Permafrost?" NASA Science, NASA.
"Why Sea Ice Matters." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
Anderson, John, et al. "A Massive Rock and Ice Avalanche Caused the 2021 Disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya." USGS Publications, U.S. Geological Survey.
Germanwatch. Global Climate Risk Index. Germanwatch.
"Himalayan Dam Collapse Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Everyone Over Climate Change Risks." New Civil Engineer, 16 Feb. 2021.
"15 Million People Face Threat of Sudden Glacial Lake Outburst Floods." ICCI, International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.
"Journal of Glaciology." International Glaciological Society, IGS.
Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. "Inequality in CO₂ Emissions." Our World in Data.
Schuur, Edward A.G., et al. "Climate Change and the Permafrost Carbon Feedback." Nature, vol. 520, 2015, pp. 171–179.
"Sea Ice." Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI.
"Thawing Permafrost Story Map." ArcGIS StoryMaps, Esri.
"Thawing Permafrost Plays Greater Role in Climate Change Than Previously Estimated." CU Boulder Today, University of Colorado Boulder, 3 Feb. 2020.
Response to Climate Change in the Arctic. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District.
By Isabelle FrazierYou know that moment when you see a sad polar bear on the news and immediately change the channel? Here's what nobody tells you — that ice you just ignored is the thermostat for your weather, your water, and the ground underneath entire cities.
In this episode, we're diving into the cryosphere — Earth's full system of glaciers, sea ice, snowpack, and permafrost — and why losing it is one of the most dangerous, underexplained things happening on the planet right now. We're talking glacial lakes quietly filling up above densely populated valleys, 1.5 trillion tons of frozen carbon that's starting to wake up, and a jet stream getting so wobbly it's turning rainstorms into week-long disaster events. Oh, and the communities absorbing all of this? Responsible for less than 1% of the emissions that caused it.
Ice is not decoration. Ice is infrastructure. By the end of this episode, you'll never look at a flood, a drought, or a hurricane the same way again.
Works Cited
"10 Things: All About Ice." NASA Sea Level Change Portal, NASA.
"Albedo." Earthdata, NASA.
"Albedo and Climate." SciEd, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
"Arctic Ocean Warming." PMEL Arctic Zone, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
"Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content." Climate.gov, NOAA.
"ELOKA: Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Glaciers." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Ice Sheets." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Indigenous Knowledge Contributions." Arctic Portal.
"Methane Emissions Are Driving Climate Change. Here's How to Reduce Them." UN Environment Programme, UNEP.
"Quick Facts About Sea Ice." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Sea Ice." All About the Cryosphere, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"Sea Ice Today." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
"The Cryosphere." National Ocean Service, NOAA.
"Thawing Grounds, Rising Stakes: The Importance of Including Permafrost Emissions in Climate Policy." The Arctic Institute.
"Thawing Permafrost." Arctic WWF, World Wildlife Fund.
"Utah Snowpack." Utah Division of Water Resources.
"What Is Permafrost?" NASA Science, NASA.
"Why Sea Ice Matters." National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC.
Anderson, John, et al. "A Massive Rock and Ice Avalanche Caused the 2021 Disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya." USGS Publications, U.S. Geological Survey.
Germanwatch. Global Climate Risk Index. Germanwatch.
"Himalayan Dam Collapse Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Everyone Over Climate Change Risks." New Civil Engineer, 16 Feb. 2021.
"15 Million People Face Threat of Sudden Glacial Lake Outburst Floods." ICCI, International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.
"Journal of Glaciology." International Glaciological Society, IGS.
Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. "Inequality in CO₂ Emissions." Our World in Data.
Schuur, Edward A.G., et al. "Climate Change and the Permafrost Carbon Feedback." Nature, vol. 520, 2015, pp. 171–179.
"Sea Ice." Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI.
"Thawing Permafrost Story Map." ArcGIS StoryMaps, Esri.
"Thawing Permafrost Plays Greater Role in Climate Change Than Previously Estimated." CU Boulder Today, University of Colorado Boulder, 3 Feb. 2020.
Response to Climate Change in the Arctic. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District.