This visualization shows a CESM1 model comparison between a present day (1990) and a future (2090) simulation using a business-as-usual or high emissions scenario, called RCP8.5. Clouds represent six-hourly time steps of total water vapor for one year. Technically speaking, this is the CESM1 model variable, TMQ, defined as the total precipitable water (vertically integrated)…
Read moreCategory: Cryosphere
When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow.
People most often think of Earth’s frozen regions as being at the top and bottom of our planet, in the polar regions. We call the area around the North Pole the Arctic and the area around the South Pole the Antarctic. But snow, ice and frozen ground are also found at many other locations on Earth.