Cryos: The State and Fate of the CryosphereUnderstanding the state of the cryosphere, and its associated past, present and future variability, is essential to understanding physical and biogeochemical interactions between the oceanic, atmospheric, terrestrial, social, cultural, and economic systems. This project will provide a framework for assessing the state of cryosphere. It will establish links with IPY projects involved in monitoring, assessing, and understanding the global cryosphere, and with projects involved in socioeconomic and cultural issues.
"The cryosphere, which includes sea-, lake-, and river-ice, snow cover, solid precipitation, glaciers, icebergs, ice sheets, ice caps, permafrost, and seasonally frozen ground, plays a crucial role in not only the polar climate system, but also in the global climate system. It is inseparable from the polar freshwater system, both on land, ice and in the sea. Understanding the state of the cryosphere, and its associated past, present and future variability in time and space, is essential to understanding its impacts on the oceanic, atmospheric, terrestrial, social, cultural, and economic systems.