Unprecedented loss of surface and cave ice in SE Europe related to record summer rains in 2019

Abstract

Abstract. Glaciers worldwide are shrinking at an accelerated rate as the climate changes in response to anthropogenic influence. While increasing air temperature is the main factor behind glacier mass loss, changing atmospheric circulation patterns and the distribution of precipitation also plays a role, though these are not as well understood. Furthermore, while the mass balance of surface glaciers (from large polar ice sheets to small alpine glaciers) is relatively well documented and continuously monitored, little to nothing is known about the response of cave glaciers (perennial ice accumulations in rock-hosted caves) to atmospheric warming. In this context, we present the response of cave and surface glaciers in SE Europe to synoptic conditions in summer 2019. Our investigation shows that extreme precipitation events occurring between May and July 2019 led to catastrophic loss of ice at levels unprecedented during the last century. As climate models predict that such extreme precipitation events are set to increase in frequency and intensity, the presence of cave glaciers in SE Europe and the paleoclimatic information they host may be lost in the near future. Moreover, the same projected continuous warming and increase in precipitation extremes could pose an additional threat to the Alpine glaciers in southern Europe, resulting in faster than predicted melting.

Сохранение Снежно-Ледяных Образований В Кунгурской Ледяной Пещере В Периоды Потепления (На Примере 2020 Г.)

“…Кунгурская Ледяная пещера в теплый 2020 г. потеряла значительно меньше льда по сравнению с южноевропейскими пещерами Scărișoara Ice Cave, Chionotrypa Cave, Crna Ledenica, Ledena jama v Paradani [3]. Здесь потери льда в теплый 2019 г. составили по-рядка 150-1000 м 3 , мощность льда снизилась от 0,3 м до 2,0 м.…”

The hidden microbial ecosystem in the perennial ice from a Pyrenean ice cave

“…Ice caves are defined as rock cavities hosting perennial ice that results from the diagenesis of snow and/or the freezing of infiltrating water through fissures (Perşoiu and Lauritzen, 2018). These environments represent a small portion of the total cryosphere (Kern and Perşoiu, 2013), yet they are an important source of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental information (Kern et al, 2009;Stoffel et al, 2009;Feurdean et al, 2011;Spötl et al, 2013;Perşoiu et al, 2017;Sancho et al, 2018;Leunda et al, 2019;Racine et al, 2022) that is under imminent risk of disappearance (Kern and Perşoiu, 2013;Perşoiu et al, 2021;Wind et al, 2022). Over the last years, ice caves have awakened 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1110091 interest as places to study both modern and fossil ice microbiota communities (Iţcuş et al, 2016;Brad et al, 2018;Iţcuş et al, 2018;Mondini et al, 2019;Paun et al, 2019Paun et al, , 2021Mulec et al, 2021).…”