Glaciers and ice sheets play an important role in the climate system: Their bright surfaces reflect sunlight back to space thus keeping the temperature down, and when they melt or grow, it directly affects the global sea-level. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the past, present, and future behavior of glaciers when addressing the topic of climate change. This course provides you with a basic understanding of glaciers and their role in the climate system. You will learn how glaciers interact with their immediate surroundings and how large ice bodies can act as an archive of past climate change. We will use data from the study tour region as case studies in the classroom as well as on the study tour.
Bring appropriate clothing and footwear to stay warm and dry during the Study Tour. Confidence in hiking on hilly and potentially slippery, wet, and rugged terrain is mandatory.
Prerequisites
One mathematics course at university level. One course in environmental or earth science at university level is recommended.
Faculty
Inger Kathrine Seierstad
M.Sc. (Geology-Geophysics, University of Copenhagen). Educated within glaciology at the Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute. Research on ice cores, past climate change, volcanic deposits in ice, stable isotopes, and stratigraphic dating of ice cores. Participated in ice-core drillings in Greenland and Antarctica multiple times. With DIS since 2018.
Long Study Tour
About this tour
You will travel to the archipelago Svalbard in Arctic Norway, where you will explore glaciers first-hand. This Study Tour takes you to a glacier nearby Longyearbyen and on a boat trip to one of Svalbard’s many fjords to watch a calving glacier surrounded by Arctic wildlife and stunning landscapes. You will interact with local researchers who monitor Svalbard’s glaciers and climate, explore the culture and history of Svalbard, and witness the impacts of the current Arctic warming, which happens about three times faster than global average.
Learning outcomes
Explore glaciers first-hand to understand and contextualize current and past glacier changes
Understand how glaciers can act as an archive of past climate change
Observe how present-day climate changes affect Svalbard and its glaciers
Possible activities
Take an all-day hiking excursion to one of the local land-terminating glaciers
Go on a boat trip to see a calving glacier, Arctic wildlife, and stunning landscapes
Visit Svalbard Museum of natural and cultural history, and The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) in Longyearbyen
Looking for some advice? We’ll support you every step of the way.
