Prompt response of glaciers on Novaya Zemlya to recent warm summers shown by CryoSat swath data

Glaciers distinct from the ice sheets melt quickly around the world. Rounce et al., 2023, recently projected (28±9) % glacier mass will be lost in 2100 compared to 2015 in the low-emission scenario SSP1-2.6. In our study, we focus on the observation of recent glacier mass change on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, using the SARIn altimeter CryoSat-2. Taking advantage of CryoSat-2's spatiotemporal resolution and a novel processor optimized for mountain glaciers, we show a prompt response to the surface temperatures modeled by the regional atmosphere model MAR. Prominent warm and high-melt years were 2013, 2016, and 2020, while 2014 featured lower surface temperature and melt than average. We discuss the potential drivers for those extreme years and furthermore exploit surface mass balance estimates to analyze the relative contribution of ice dynamics and surface processes to the observed mass loss acceleration, and regional variations therein.