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14 - Arctic ice caps and glaciers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2009

By
Julian A. Dowdeswell  and
Jon Ove Hagen
Edited by
Jonathan L. Bamber  and
Antony J. Payne
Foreword by
John Houghton
Julian A. Dowdeswell
Affiliation:
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Jon Ove Hagen
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography, University of Oslo
Jonathan L. Bamber
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Antony J. Payne
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
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Summary

Introduction

The ice caps and glaciers outside the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets account for only about 4% of the area and 0.5% of the volume of ice on land, and would yield a global rise in sea level of about 0.5 m if they were to melt completely (Dyurgerov and Meier, 1997a; Meier and Bahr, 1996). However, these ice masses, individually of up to 104 km2, may be more significant contributors than the great ice sheets to sea-level rise today, and may remain so over the next century at least (Meier, 1984; Warrick et al., 1996). This is a function of both the climatic sensitivity of the geographical areas in which they are located and of their relatively rapid response time to environmental changes (Johannesson, Raymond and Waddington, 1989).

The ice caps and glaciers of the Arctic islands make up about 45% of the 540 000 km2 or so of ice outside Antarctica and Greenland (Dyurgerov and Meier, 1997a, 1997b). If the small glaciers and ice caps on Greenland and Antarctica are included, there is a global total of 680 000 km2 and about 180 000 km3 of ice, excluding the great ice sheets (Meier and Bahr, 1996). In either case, the glaciers and ice caps of the Arctic islands form a significant area and volume of the world's ice (Figure 14.1).

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Chapter
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Mass Balance of the Cryosphere
Observations and Modelling of Contemporary and Future Changes
 , pp. 527 - 558
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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