Impacts of climate change on snow, ice, and permafrost in Europe

The European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change (ETC/ACC) recently published a background report about impacts of climate change on cryosphere in Europe. The report was elaborated in close cooperation between the Federal Environment Agency in Dessau (G), the University of Zurich (CH), the WSL-Institute in Davos (CH) and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research in Oslo. The analysis of the state of the cryosphere in Europe is based on in-situ and remote sensing observations, and modelling. It assesses the primary impact of climate change on the cryospheric components such as snow cover, glaciers and ice caps, permafrost, lake and river ice, and sea ice; as well as related secondary impacts on avalanches, landslides and rock slope failures, and glacier floods. The paper covers Svalbard, Iceland, Scandinavia, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Pyrenees, as well as the Baltic Sea.