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Looking for facts and information? See About the Cryosphere.
On Thin Ice:
Expedition to a Crumbling Ice Shelf
Scientists blog from Antarctica and provide a glimpse of what it's like to do research in the field. Read their blog ...
Current Conditions
Icelights: Answers to your burning questions about ice and climate
What's hot in the news around climate and sea ice and what are scientists talking about now? Read more...
What is the Cryosphere?
When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. Read more ...
Small changes in the climate or environment can have dramatic impacts on those whose lives depend on local natural resources. Antarctica has no indigenous population and no permanent residents, but the Arctic is home to thriving populations of Indigenous peoples (though relatively small compared to other regions on Earth), mostly concentrated along the coasts. Many communities closely rely on sea ice for travel, hunting, and ice-fishing.
The Yup'ik and Iñupiat populations, for example, closely observe the quality of sea ice for hunting throughout fall, winter, and spring. In the Arctic Report Card 2019, Bering Sea elders explain that, for many Arctic Indigenous Peoples, sea ice "provides access to seals, whales, walrus, fish, crabs, and other marine life for our subsistence harvests." When sea ice in the spring melts too rapidly, it shortens the hunting season. Indigenous Alaska Elders point to recent decades as a period of considerable change. In the past, they predicted weather using traditional indicators such as clouds, winds, and currents. These indicators are no longer as reliable as they once were due to how rapidly the weather can shift.
Last updated: 3 April 2020
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