Université de Fribourg

Partitioning the uncertainty of ensemble projections of global glacier mass change

Marzeion, Ben ; Hock, Regine ; Anderson, Brian ; Bliss, Andrew ; Champollion, Nicolas ; Fujita, Koji ; Huss, Matthias ; Immerzeel, Walter W. ; Kraaijenbrink, Philip ; Malles, Jan‐Hendrik ; Maussion, Fabien ; Radić, Valentina ; Rounce, David R. ; Sakai, Akiko ; Shannon, Sarah ; Wal, Roderik ; Zekollari, Harry

In: Earth’s Future, 2020, vol. 8, no. 7, p. -

Glacier mass loss is recognized as a major contributor to current sea level rise. However, large uncertainties remain in projections of glacier mass loss on global and regional scales. We present an ensemble of 288 glacier mass and area change projections for the 21st century based on 11 glacier models using up to 10 general circulation models and four Representative Concentration Pathways...

Université de Fribourg

GlacierMIP – A model intercomparison of global-scale glacier mass-balance models and projections

Hock, Regine ; Bliss, Andrew ; Marzeion, Ben ; Giesen, Rianne H. ; Hirabayashi, Yukiko ; Huss, Matthias ; Radić, Valentina ; Slangen, Aimée B. A.

In: Journal of Glaciology, 2019, vol. 65, no. 251, p. 453–467

Global-scale 21st-century glacier mass change projections from six published global glacier models are systematically compared as part of the Glacier Model Intercomparison Project. In total 214 projections of annual glacier mass and area forced by 25 General Circulation Models (GCMs) and four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) emission scenarios and aggregated into 19 glacier ...

Université de Fribourg

Global-scale hydrological response to future glacier mass loss

Huss, Matthias ; Hock, Regine

In: Nature Climate Change, 2018, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 135–140

Worldwide glacier retreat and associated future runoff changes raise major concerns over the sustainability of global water resources1,2,3,4, but global-scale assessments of glacier decline and the resulting hydrological consequences are scarce5,6. Here we compute global glacier runoff changes for 56 large-scale glacierized drainage basins to 2100 and analyse the glacial impact on streamflow....

Université de Fribourg

A new model for global glacier change and sea-level rise

Huss, Matthias ; Hock, Regine

In: Cryospheric Sciences, 2015, p. 54

The anticipated retreat of glaciers around the globe will pose far-reaching challenges to the management of fresh water resources and significantly contribute to sea-level rise within the coming decades. Here, we present a new model for calculating the twenty-first century mass changes of all glaciers on Earth outside the ice sheets. The Global Glacier Evolution Model (GloGEM) includes mass loss...

Université de Fribourg

Variations in Alaska tidewater glacier frontal ablation, 1985–2013

McNabb, R. W. ; Hock, Regine ; Huss, Matthias

In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2015, vol. 120, no. 1, p. 2014JF003276

Our incomplete knowledge of the proportion of mass loss due to frontal ablation (the sum of ice loss through calving and submarine melt) from tidewater glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has been cited as a major hindrance to accurate predictions of global sea level rise. We present a 28 year record (1985–2013) of frontal ablation for 27 Alaska tidewater glaciers...

Université de Fribourg

Runaway thinning of the low-elevation Yakutat Glacier, Alaska, and its sensitivity to climate change

Trüssel, Barbara L. ; Truffer, Martin ; Hock, Regine ; Motyka, Roman J. ; Huss, Matthias ; Zhang, Jing

In: Journal of Glaciology, 2015, vol. 61, no. 225, p. 65 - 75

Lake-calving Yakutat Glacier in southeast Alaska, USA, is undergoing rapid thinning and terminus retreat. We use a simplified glacier model to evaluate its future mass loss. In a first step we compute glacier-wide mass change with a surface mass-balance model, and add a mass loss component due to ice flux through the calving front. We then use an empirical elevation change curve to adjust for...

Université de Fribourg

100-year mass changes in the Swiss Alps linked to the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation

Huss, Matthias ; Hock, Regine ; Bauder, Andreas ; Funk, Martin

In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2010, vol. 37, p. L10501

Thirty new 100-year records of glacier surface mass balance, accumulation and melt in the Swiss Alps are presented. The time series are based on a comprehensive set of field data and distributed modeling and provide insights into the glacier-climate linkage. Considerable mass loss over the 20th century is evident for all glaciers, but rates differ strongly. Glacier mass loss shows multidecadal...