Glacier Climate Interactions in a Warming World: Recent Trends and Future Implications

The pervasive impact of anthropogenic warming in recent decades has resulted in profound transformations in glacial landscapes, characterized by a reduction in area, terminus retreat, and accelerated mass loss. The sustainability of glaciers over the long term has become a pressing question, given their pivotal role in regulating regional water resources through the significant contribution of glacier meltwater. Altered timing and intensity of available water resources pose both immediate and enduring consequences. The contemporary era has witnessed a surge in glacier-related hazards, including glacier lake outburst floods, avalanches, ice falls, landslides, and debris flows. These manifestations arise from diverse geomorphological and glaciological characteristics resulting from climate change. Such hazards, coupled with shifts in the timing and intensity of glacier runoff, can be construed as short-term repercussions of anthropogenically induced glacier alterations.

In the context of sustained or escalating warming, the very survival of these indispensable water resources comes under scrutiny in the long term. The augmentation of peak runoff from unstable, consistently diminishing glaciers is a temporal phenomenon, eventually yielding to a decline in melt runoff as glacier size diminishes. This contraction in fresh water availability poses a critical challenge, especially given the concurrent and anticipated population growth reliant on these resources. Therefore, the imperative lies in mitigating emissions to control glacier melt or formulating strategic resource management approaches.

This Research Topic is dedicated to the examination of recent variations and future projections in global glacier mass balance, with a comprehensive exploration of their far-reaching implications. The overarching goal is to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue, integrating insights from glaciology, hydrology, and climatology to enrich our holistic comprehension of glacier dynamics. Encompassing investigations into glacier mass changes across diverse continents utilizing in situ observations, modeling, and remote sensing techniques, this issue scrutinizes the drivers of alterations in glacier mass balance. Temperature fluctuations, precipitation patterns, and atmospheric circulation constitute focal points of inquiry. Furthermore, this Research Topic intends to explore the repercussions of these changes on local water resources and the associated risks of disasters. Contributions focusing on extreme melting events and the dynamic interplay between glaciers, climate, and local hydrology are particularly encouraged.

Key areas of research:

• Recent variations and future projections in glacier mass balance and adaptation strategies for better management of changing water resources

• In situ observations, modelling, and remote sensing techniques for glacier mass balance observation and prediction

• Drivers of alterations in glacier mass balance: temperature fluctuations, precipitation patterns, and atmospheric circulation

• Repercussions of changes on local water resources and associated disaster risks

• Extreme melting/surging events and the dynamic interplay between glaciers, climate, and local hydrology.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: remote sensing techniques, glacier mass balance, observation and prediction

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.