I was invited to contribute to a series of Mountain Talks pitched to IFMGA members and organized by IFMGA (Environmental and Sustainable Access Commission), UIAA (Mountain Protection Commission) and GRID-Arendal. It is a great pleasure to have these opportunities to share the latest science with this group of people deeply connected to our glaciated mountain regions.
Here is a short list of resources for those who want to know more about glaciers:
Level 1: Glaciers Online is a fantastic photo glossary with in depth explanations of glacier features and processes: https://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/. Definitely something for everyone here. (EN/DE)
Level 2: The Antarctic glaciers educational website is focused on Antarctica but also has a wealth of straightforward explanations of general glacier principles: http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/ This reads quite like an introductory text book on glaciers. (EN)
Level 3: Open Global Glacier Model educational resources (OGGM-Edu) offers interactive web-based applications pitched where you can read some basic background and then explore aspects of glacier behavior with these interactive tools: https://edu.oggm.org/en/latest/index.html. This is more of a deep-dive in case you want to explore the scientific data and models that are actually used in academic publications and global reports such as IPCC. (EN +)
- Time-lapse of the flow of Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, Franz Josef Glacier: https://vimeo.com/133626869
- An excellent short film explaining the method of using glacier modeling to predict future glacier change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJNIr_0zOyk
- Explore patterns of glacier length changes in Austria here: https://www.mergili.at/glacchange.php
- Explore then and now photos compiled for Swiss glaciers; Repeat Photography Project in Glacier National Park, US; Mountain Legacy Project in the Canadian Rockies
- Explore the global database of glacier measurements hosted by the World Glacier Monitoring Service here: https://wgms.ch/fogbrowser/ (though its not very user friendly in my opinion- sorry!)
- The IPCC Special Report on Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate provides a Summary for Policy Makers is the authoritative source on the relevant recent science.
Want to get involved? Here are some ideas:
Hintereisferner in the Austrian Alps descending from Weißkugel (3738m), is one of the better studied glaciers worldwide. Photo credit: Robbie Shone.
