As the world observes the United Nations’ International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and the start of the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025–2034), scientists from Europe and India have launched an ambitious research initiative to better understand and protect the planet’s most vulnerable frozen regions.
The CryoSCOPE project, unveiled this week in Helsinki, Finland, brings together leading climate researchers to study how snow, ice, air, and water interact — and how their rapid transformations are reshaping ecosystems, water cycles, and global climate patterns.
Glaciers are retreating at an alarming pace. Between 2000 and 2019, they lost an average of 267 gigatons of ice each year — melting at twice the rate recorded just two decades earlier.
Scientists warn that the loss of glaciers, which store more than 60% of the world’s freshwater, jeopardises long-term water supplies, drives sea level rise, and pushes the planet closer to dangerous climate tipping points.
“CryoSCOPE addresses critical challenges in quantifying and forecasting high-latitude and high-elevation cryosphere-atmosphere-hydrosphere dynamics by integrating advanced observations, multi-scale modelling, and AI,” said Rakesh Hooda, CryoSCOPE Coordinator at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
“This is an interdisciplinary effort to generate robust, evidence-based insights to support climate adaptation, inform IPCC assessments, and promote the UN SDGs. CryoSCOPE offers open-source data and tools, enabling broad scientific collaboration and impactful applications for hydropower, forestry, and disaster risk management.”
Unlike earlier efforts, CryoSCOPE is among the first international projects to study the cryosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere (CAH) together, reflecting the growing recognition that climate change cannot be fully understood by analysing these systems in isolation.
Key research activities under CryoSCOPE include:
- Muon flux measurements in Finland to estimate snow water content, critical for flood prediction and water resource planning.
- Sublimation analysis in the Swiss Alps and Lapland to track how snow turns directly to vapor, reducing available water.
- Coupled glacier-permafrost modelling in Svalbard to simulate methane release and nutrient transport in glacier forefields.
“We’re connecting fine-scale processes on the ground with global climate models. CryoSCOPE delivers sharper insights for both climate science and policy,” added Harsh Beria, Scientific Coordinator from ETH Zürich and WSL SLF.
The CryoSCOPE consortium includes research partners from eight countries, with support from the European Union, Switzerland, and India.
Scientists say the urgency could not be greater. Melting glaciers not only disrupt regional water supplies but also trigger cascading impacts — from rising seas and shifting monsoons to catastrophic events such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
Furthermore, as snow and ice recede, Earth’s ability to reflect sunlight diminishes, accelerating global warming in a dangerous feedback loop.
By linking on-the-ground data with advanced modelling and artificial intelligence, CryoSCOPE seeks to arm policymakers, communities, and industries with actionable knowledge to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
“Studying these frozen systems in silos is no longer enough,” project leaders said. “What happens in the cryosphere doesn’t stay in the cryosphere — it affects all of us.”
