Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Impacts of Climate Change on the Cryosphere

The impacts of climate change on the cryosphere are the wide-ranging effects that global warming has on the frozen parts of the Earth's surface, including snow cover, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, ice shelves and permafrost. As temperatures rise, these components are shrinking and thinning: glaciers and ice sheets …

Curated from this journal's research 📚 4 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 9× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2769-2264 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

The impacts of climate change on the cryosphere are the wide-ranging effects that global warming has on the frozen parts of the Earth's surface, including snow cover, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, ice shelves and permafrost. As temperatures rise, these components are shrinking and thinning: glaciers and ice sheets are losing mass, seasonal snow cover is declining, sea ice extent and thickness are decreasing in the polar oceans, and permafrost is thawing. These changes carry significant consequences. Melting land ice contributes to sea-level rise, the loss of bright, reflective ice and snow lowers the planet's albedo and amplifies warming, and shrinking glaciers and snowpack alter the freshwater supplies that downstream regions depend on for drinking Water, agriculture and hydropower. Thawing permafrost can release stored carbon as carbon dioxide and methane, creating a feedback that further intensifies climate change, and the loss of cryospheric stability affects ecosystems, coastal communities and weather patterns worldwide. As a journal focused on Water and aquatic systems, Water publishes research on hydrology, Water resources and the effects of climate and environmental change on freshwater systems. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to the cryosphere and the influence of a changing climate on the world's frozen Water.

Research published in this journal

4 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 4 articles above have been cited 9 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Impacts of Climate Change on the Cryosphere, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Water (ISSN 2769-2264).

Journal editorial board
Ruth Pereira · Portugal Miklas Scholz · United Kingdom Yukinori SATO · Japan

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.