Variability and Change in the Canadian Cryosphere

A helicopter lands north of Gillam, Manitoba. Helicopters are used to access remote areas to measure the snowpack for comparison with satellite data. As part of the IPY cryosphere project, a helicopter based snow survey extended from Sept-Iles to Kuujjuaq, in Quebec, during February 2008. Photo: Arvids Silis, © Environment Canada, 2006.Canada's International Polar Year cryosphere project captures this year's first International Polar Day theme: Changing Earth (Past and Present). The theme and the project recognize the polar regions as critical archives of polar change that aid in our understanding and ability to better predict future climate changes.

An Envirozine interview with Anne Walker, Principal Investigator:

Changing Earth: Examining the State of our Cryosphere

Snow Star 2007 Tundra Traverse

SnowStar 2007 route from Fairbanks, Alaska to Baker Lake, Nunavut | Photo: SnowStar

Follow the 4000 km snowmobile traverse of two Canadian and five US scientists from Fairbanks, Alaska to Baker Lake, Nunavut. As the opening field campaign of the IPY-CRYOSPHERE project, the traverse acquired the first-ever systematic measurements of snow cover across the tundra and taiga of North America. Link to the SnowStar 2007 website.

The Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Project

The CliC project's principal goal is to assess and quantify the impacts that climate variability and change have on components of the cryosphere and its overall stability, and the consequences of these impacts for the climate system. The Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Project website