Cryospheric change and ecological security

Cryosphere mainly distributes in polar and high-altitude regions, which includes glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, lake & river ice, permafrost & sub-sea permafrost, and so on. Under the ongoing climate warming, the cryosphere has been shrinking at an accelerating rate. Most of glaciers retreat and lose their mass loss. The active layer of permafrost deepens and soil temperature rises. All these changes have profoundly altered the regional or even global hydrology and water quality, and further act on the feedbacks to climate change. Besides, the rapid cryospheric changes are also reshaping the terrain and landforms. This is also closely related to the stability of the ecosystem. Meanwhile, cryosphere contains large of chemicals as “pool”, such as carbon, nitrogen, mercury and other pollutants, making it an important linkage for the global biogeochemical cycles, posing potential risks on the cryosphere ecological security.