Cryosphere

Areas on the earth that or cold enough to change water into solid ice or snow are known as 'Cryosphere's' It derives from the Greek word 'kryos' meaning cold. These regions of our planet have a great influence on the worlds climate. When scientist refer to the cryosphere they mean they are referring to areas where temperatures allow water to freeze into its solid form. These main areas are know as the North Pole; The Arctic & The South Pole; The Antarctic.
​Both areas are monitored by scientists but the North Pole is covered by a cold ocean where sea ice grows in the winter and shrinks in summer. Frozen ground and permafrost ring the Arctic Ocean. Glaciers, snow, and ice cover the nearby land, including a thick sheet of snow and ice covering Greenland. The Arctic Ocean area is also surrounded by land providing an isolated area that captures the effects of wind and ocean currents from global weather patterns. With these combinations scientist are able to form a real insight into the way this hostile environment  is reacting to worldly atmospheric changes.


​SNOW
Snow is precipitation made up of ice crystals. When cold temperatures and high humidity levels combine in the atmosphere, snow crystals form. As long as air temperature remains below freezing, the crystals will fall to the Earth as snow. Snow:

1. can be found all over the world, even near the equator at high elevations
2. reflects sunlight and affects our planet's climate
3. provides a habitat for some animals and plants
4. supplies water for people, plants, and animals around the world
5. is an important part of the world's climate

ICE
Ice forms when temperatures drop below the freezing point and liquid water becomes a solid, creating a tightly bonded substance. Ice is a key ingredient in glaciers, sea ice, ice shelves, icebergs, and frozen ground. Naturally occurring ice:

1. exists all over the world, but mostly forms in the high latitudes, at high elevations, or at night when temperatures cool
2. in oceans, lakes, and rivers may not be as common if climate continues to change and temperatures warm
3. provides water for people, animals, and plants
4. on lakes and in oceans can get so thick that special ships called icebreakers have to create a path through the ice
5. can tell scientists about the past climate of Earth through ice cores

​SEA ICE
Sea ice forms when water in the oceans is cooled to temperatures below freezing. Most sea ice forms in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.

1. does not raise sea level when it melts, because it forms from ocean water
2. is closely linked with our planet's climate, so scientists are concerned about its recent decline
3. fills a central role in the lives and customs of native Arctic people
4. provides a place for polar bears, seals, and other animals to live
5. is one way that scientists study the effects of climate change

GLACIERS
Glaciers are thick masses of ice on land. The ice has built up from many seasons of snowfall. Glaciers move downhill very slowly.

1. cover 10 percent of the world's land
2. are smaller, today, than they used to be because of climate change
3. sometimes look pink because of the algae living in the top layers of the snow and ice
4. store 75 percent of the world's fresh water and provide water for many people around the world
5. change the land they flow through, carving landscapes with their weight

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Muir Glacier, located in Glacier Bay, Alaska, photographed by W. Field in Aug. 1941 (left) and B. Molnia in Sep. 1976 (middle) and Aug. 2004 (right). Note how the glacier has retreated to expose rock in 1976 that has since become lush vegetation in 2004. The glacier has retreated so much that it is hardly visible in the 2004 photo. —Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center (comp.). 2002, updated 2009. Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

ICE SHELVES & ICEBERGS
Ice shelves are platforms of ice that form where ice sheets and glaciers move out into the oceans. Ice shelves exist mostly in Antarctica and Greenland, as well as in the Arctic near Canada and Alaska. Icebergs are chunks of ice that break off glaciers and ice shelves and drift in the oceans. Ice shelves and icebergs:

1. raise sea level only when they first leave land and push into the water, but not when they melt in the water
2. break off and melt as temperatures rise; in 2002, Antarctica's huge Larsen B Ice Shelf shattered in only a few months, sending hundreds of icebergs into the ocean
3. provide shelter for krill, small fish that penguins, seals, whales, and sea birds eat
4. are one important area of study for a wide range of scientists who study biology, glaciers, climate, and other fields
5. may hold clues to the future of ice sheets and glaciers in a world with warming temperatures

​FROZEN GROUND
Frozen ground is soil or rock in which part or all of the water has frozen. If the ground is frozen all year long, we call it "permafrost," or permanently frozen ground. Frozen ground:

1. exists mostly in the Arctic and Antarctic, but frozen ground can also be found at high elevations
2. has begun to melt as climate warms
3. often has an "active layer" near the surface, where plants can live because the soil is thawed for at least part of the year
4. creates problems for people who are building structures, roads, or dams because it can shift them when it melts
5. stores greenhouse gases like carbon and methane; scientists are studying how these gases will affect climate as temperatures warm and permafrost thaws

'The Arctic cold season usually begins in September and ends in March. Monitoring winter sea ice is important to understanding the state of the sea ice. Scientists have found that Arctic sea ice has been recovering less in the winter, meaning the sea ice is already "weak" when the summer melting season arrives. A possible cause is that the underlying ocean is warmer.'
​ (http://nsidc.org/about​ accessed 17/3/17)

​The physical materiality of water in its frozen sate within these regions is in a delicate and sensitive position. Within our humbled lives we take for granted the process of freezing and how it enables us to sustain and preserve but fail to recognise the importance of this process as a means to sustain life. The fragility of the freezing process is palpable and gives rise to pure aesthetics of change from solid form to non existence. 

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