Meteorological Technology International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Agriculture
      • Automated Weather Stations
      • Aviation
      • Climate Measurement
      • Data
      • Developing Countries
      • Digital Applications
      • Early Warning Systems
      • Extreme Weather
    • G-P
      • Hydrology
      • Lidar
      • Lightning Detection
      • New Appointments
      • Nowcasting
      • Numerical Weather Prediction
      • Polar Weather
    • R-S
      • Radar
      • Rainfall
      • Remote Sensing
      • Renewable Energy
      • Satellites
      • Solar
      • Space Weather
      • Supercomputers
    • T-Z
      • Training
      • Transport
      • Weather Instruments
      • Wind
      • World Meteorological Organization
      • Meteorological Technology World Expo
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • April 2025
    • January 2025
    • September 2024
    • April 2024
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Expo
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
  • Sign-up for Free Weekly E-Newsletter
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Meteorological Technology International
  • News
      • Agriculture
      • Automated Weather Stations
      • Aviation
      • Climate Measurement
      • Data
      • Developing Countries
      • Digital Applications
      • Early Warning Systems
      • Extreme Weather
      • Hydrology
      • Lidar
      • Lightning Detection
      • New Appointments
      • Nowcasting
      • Numerical Weather Prediction
      • Polar Weather
      • Radar
      • Rainfall
      • Remote Sensing
      • Renewable Energy
      • Satellites
      • Solar
      • Space Weather
      • Supercomputers
      • Training
      • Transport
      • Weather Instruments
      • Wind
      • World Meteorological Organization
      • Meteorological Technology World Expo
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. April 2025
    2. January 2025
    3. September 2024
    4. April 2024
    5. January 2024
    6. September 2023
    7. April 2023
    8. Archive Issues
    9. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – April 2025

    By Web TeamApril 15, 2025
    Recent

    In this Issue – April 2025

    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – January 2025

    December 13, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    August 8, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Expo
Facebook LinkedIn
Subscribe
Meteorological Technology International
World Meteorological Organization

WMO to prioritize cryosphere action in the face of a rapidly changing landscape

Dan SymondsBy Dan SymondsMay 30, 20234 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email
Photo credit: Pixabay
Share
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) will elevate the cryosphere to one of its top priorities, given the increasing impacts of diminishing sea ice, melting glaciers, ice sheets, permafrost and snow on sea level rise, water-related hazards and water security, economies and ecosystems.

The World Meteorological Congress, WMO’s top decision-making body, has endorsed a new resolution calling for more coordinated observations and predictions, data exchange, research and services. It proposes to ramp up activities, with a proposed increase in funding from the regular budget and extra-budgetary funding.

Challenges outlined by the WMO Executive Council’s Panel on Polar and High Mountains Observations, Research and Services, include:

  • Well over a billion people rely on water from snow and glacier melt, carried downstream by the major river basins of the world. The irreversible changes in the global cryosphere will therefore affect adaptation strategies and access to water resources.
  • Arctic permafrost is melting and is a ‘sleeping giant’ of greenhouse gases. Arctic permafrost stores twice as much carbon as is in the atmosphere today. Thawing mountains and Arctic permafrost increase the risk of natural cascading hazards.
  • Glaciers, Greenland and Antarctica ice sheet melt accounts for about 50% of sea level rise, which is accelerating. This is having growing and cascading impacts on small island developing states and densely populated coastal areas.
  • Cryosphere changes in mountain areas are leading to an increased risk of hazards such as rock slides, glacier detachments and floods. For example, Pakistan has surveyed more than 3,000 glacial lakes, of which 36 were potentially dangerous and at high risk for outbursts. It suffered numerous glacial lake outbursts and flash floods in 2022 – a year that saw extreme and prolonged heat in March and April and devastating floods in September and October.
  • There is a need for coordination of activities in the Antarctic carried out by members to meet the need for meteorological data and services and for environmental monitoring and climate research.

The resolution calls for greater investment and mobilization of activities beyond the WMO community. It sets out the high-level priorities and proposed actions, which are linked to WMO’s long-term goals:

  • The urgency of global and regional emerging risks from the changing cryosphere in a changing climate is understood and reflected in the work plans of WMO bodies and in global frameworks.
  • Collaborative and coordinated technical mechanisms are optimized to support advancing service delivery by members, to address relevant gaps in polar and high mountain regions, at all scales.
  • Earth system predictions are enhanced by closing gaps in polar and high mountain observations, and improving data sharing and numerical models integrating research on cryospheric processes.
  • Partnerships and collaboration with research and external stakeholders advance knowledge sharing and amplify the existing capacity to deliver services, in a regionally relevant manner.
  • Antarctica: Members’ collaboration in collecting and sharing observations, conducting research, and developing and providing services, is enhanced.

Sea level rise, ice and glaciers are among the climate indicators monitored by WMO and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The WMO State of the Global Climate 2022 report highlighted the rapid change.

Reference glaciers experienced an average thickness change of over -1.3m between October 2021 and October 2022. This loss is much larger than the average of the last decade. The cumulative thickness loss since 1970 amounts to almost 30m.

The European Alps smashed records for glacier melt due to a combination of little winter snow, an intrusion of Saharan dust in March 2022 and heatwaves between May and early September. In Switzerland, 6% of the glacier ice volume was lost between 2021 and 2022 – and one-third between 2001 and 2022.

The Greenland Ice Sheet ended with a negative total mass balance for the 26th year in a row.

Sea ice in Antarctica dropped to 1,920,000km2 on February 25, 2022, the lowest level on record and almost 1,000,000km2 below the long-term (1991-2020) mean.

Arctic sea ice in September at the end of the summer melt tied for the 11th lowest monthly minimum ice extent in the satellite record.

Global mean sea level reached a new high for the satellite altimeter record (1993-2022). The rate of global mean sea level rise has doubled between the first decade of the satellite record (1993-2002, 2.27 mm∙yr) and the last (2013-2022, 4.62 mm∙yr).

For more news from the WMO, please click here.

Previous ArticleAir Canada aircraft equipped with sensors to gather climate measurements
Next Article NCAR develops advanced solar energy forecasting system

Read Similar Stories

Early Warning Systems

WMO strengthens Nepal’s early warning services

May 8, 20253 Mins Read
Early Warning Systems

SERCOM approves WMO updates on hazardous events and early warnings

March 26, 20251 Min Read
Climate Measurement

WMO publishes State of the Global Climate report for 2024

March 20, 20258 Mins Read
Latest News

WMO and Beijing Climate Centre host climate monitoring and prediction forum in Qingdao

May 16, 2025

Integrated model improves flood risk assessment in China

May 15, 2025

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Ramla Qureshi, McMaster University’s Department of Civil Engineering

May 14, 2025

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Supplier Spotlights
  • Earth Networks
Latest Job Postings
  • Researcher/Engineer to support data-based weather forecasting (R2/RE2)

    • Barcelona
    • Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación
    • Full Time
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us / Advertise
  • Meet the Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Free Weekly E-Newsletter
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Notice and Takedown Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the ...
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by