Why are Ice and Snow Important to Us?
This report demonstrates how we are affected by ice lowlands and big cities of Asia and South America, will
and snow, whether we live in the northern regions or suffer from the loss of this dry-season water flow.
tropical climates or in between. Ice and snow are impor-
tant components of the Earth’s climate system and are The global significance of ice and snow is profound. Less
particularly vulnerable to global warming. Ice and snow ice, snow and permafrost may amplify global warming in
are important parts of northerners’ identity and culture, various ways. Melting glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland
especially for indigenous people, whose cultures have and Antarctica will raise the mean sea level. The retreat-
adapted to a world in which ice and snow are not only in- ing sea ice, in combination with increased supply of fresh
tegral parts of the ecosystem but also support a sustain- water from melting glaciers and warmer ocean tempera-
able way of life. Reduction of ice and snow damages the tures, could affect the strength of major ocean currents.
ecosystems that support these cultures and livelihoods.
Over the last few decades, the amount of ice and snow,
“As our hunting culture is based on the cold, being frozen especially in the Northern Hemisphere, has decreased
with lots of snow and ice, we thrive on it,” says Sheila Watt- substantially
2,3
. The primary reason for this decrease is
Cloutier, former Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Coun- the ongoing global warming that the WMO/UNEP Inter-
cil. “We are in essence fighting for our right to be cold.”
1
governmental Panel on Climate Change
3
(see Chapter 9)
attributes mainly to human activities. This trend will ac-
Ice and snow are also important in temperate and tropi- celerate if the global warming continues.
cal areas. Hundreds of millions of people are affected
by the ice and snow that accumulate in mountain re- This book looks at the forces driving this unprecedented
gions. The slow melt from glaciers provides water to riv- change (Chapter 3), and at the current state and outlook
ers supporting agriculture, domestic water supplies, hy- for the components of the cryosphere (see Box 1): snow
droelectric power stations, and industry. If the glaciers (Chapter 4), ice in the sea (Chapter 5), ice on the land
disappear, people distant from these mountains, in the (Chapter 6), frozen ground (Chapter 7) and river and
lake ice (Chapter 8). The societal and ecological impacts
Photo: ICC
of changes in the different components of ice and snow
“We are in essence are discussed in each chapter. The final chapter (Chapter
9) returns to a holistic view, presenting some regional
fighting for our
perspectives and looking at implications of current and
right to be cold.”
projected changes, and at policy responses. The report is
based on scientific knowledge and each chapter is writ-
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
ten by experts in their field.
20 GLOBAL OUTLOOK FOR ICE AND SNOW