Aims:
o generate awareness of the importance of snow and ice, the rapid ongoing changes of these vital components of the Earth system, and impacts of the changes on natural resources like water and ecosystem-based services upon which humans critically depend;
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o mobilize research, policy, public, and private efforts on understanding and responding to the implications of retreating ice and snow and to changes in their regimes around the globe; and
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o foster communication and collaboration between ice- and snow- concerned communities that are currently separated due to their different geographic origin, e.g. polar or alpine, or responsibilities focusing, e.g. on the environment, development, business, and societal matters.
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Ice and snow are currently present on up to 33% of the Earth’s total land surface and play a crucial role in making planet Earth hospitable. They help in cooling the planet by reflecting the sunlight. Through the phase changes between ice, liquid water, and water vapour, they act as the critical planetary thermostat setting the background temperature of the atmosphere and the world’s oceans. Snow and glaciers contribute to the water supplies of hundreds of millions of people and are for some communities the primary source of water during warmer and drier months.
While whole ecosystems, communities, cultures and industries are entirely dependent on ice and snow, recent research suggests, for example, that majestic glaciers will disappear from many mountain regions within several decades to a couple of centuries. Soon, the Arctic will have almost no sea ice in summer for the first time in several thousand years. Winter and summer snow cover is also rapidly changing. Indeed, the habitability of the coastal zones of the world — home to billions and a substantial fraction of global economic activity — would be in severe jeopardy if the distribution of snow and ice shift significantly.
Relevance of ice and snow
Ice and snow belong to “the cryosphere,” a term that collectively describes elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state. It includes solid precipitation, snow cover, sea ice, lake and river ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, permafrost, and seasonally frozen ground. Geographically, the International Year of Snow and Ice would bring into particular focus the two polar regions and mountainous regions that maintain glacier systems and snow cover. Global linkages would be demonstrated by highlighting the concerns of those affected by rapidly melting ice and reduced snow even if far displaced from them.
A host of subject matters will fall under the International Year of Snow and Ice including climate variations, ecosystems, human development, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and natural hazards arising from retreating ice and snow.
The International Year of Snow and Ice is conceived of as a kick-off to longer-term programmes, including the International Polar Initiative (IPI), currently under development and discussion across the United Nation Member States and agencies. If endorsed by the international community, IPI may start in 2017 or 2018 as a long-term effort to address, efficiently and in a co-ordinated manner, the polar aspects of the global sustainability through a combination of research, observations, development of environmental services, education, and outreach.
Scope of the International Year of Snow
and Ice
The aim is to have the UN General Assembly designate the year 2016 as the International Year of Snow and Ice.
The organization Vox Naturae has rallied a number of actors in promoting this objective, including the Global Water Partnership, the City University of New York’s Environmental CrossRoads Initiative, Canadian Polar Commission, the Arctic Imperative Summit, ICIMOD (The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
The idea will be presented in the context of the UN Water meeting scheduled for 19-21 February 2013 to obtain the backing of the wider UN system. Efforts to garner diplomatic support will be made early in 2013 through face-to-face meetings with UN country delegations in New York.
Immediate next steps
ublic awareness campaign of the importance of snow and ice in terms of water availability, sea level, weather, culture, and more;
nhanced support to climate change mitigation and adaptation — because ice and snow cover are nature’s primary indicators of climate change and because their changes are already having severe human and ecological consequences;
lobal scientific campaign to assess ecosystem services provided by the cryosphere, including future water resources, and how they are being affected by a warming climate; and
Policy action on the sustainable management of water sources originating from mountains with snow cover and glaciers.
Possible activities of the International
Year of Snow and Ice:
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