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Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing pp 98–101Cite as

Cryosphere, Climate Change Effects

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Frozen water sphere; Solid water sphere

Definition

The cryosphere is defined as the part of the earth’s surface where the water is in solid form. It includes the sea ice, lake and river ice, glaciers and mountain ice caps, ice sheets, snow cover, and the frozen ground (including permafrost). The cryosphere is important to global climate due to its high reflectivity (albedo) of the sun’s rays. Changes in the cryosphere affect the global heat balance and thus modulate the global climate.

Albedo is the reflectivity of the earth’s surface to the incoming solar radiation (sunlight).

Introduction

The cryosphere is an integral part of the earth’s climate system. It is closely linked to the earth’s surface energy budget, the water cycle, sea level changes, and the surface gas exchanges. Presently, the cryosphere on land contains about 75 % of the world’s freshwater, mostly in the Greenland ice sheet and the Antarctic ice sheet. The total melt of these two ice sheets would increase the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1850 Tabla Mesa Drive, 80305, Boulder, CO, USA

    Aixue Hu

Authors
  1. Aixue Hu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aixue Hu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

    Eni G. Njoku

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Hu, A. (2014). Cryosphere, Climate Change Effects. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_26

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