Glaciers and ice sheets in a warming world: impacts and outcomes

A UK UNESCO initiative reveals the disastrous loss of glaciers and their vital supply of water to mountain communities, and enhanced ice sheet melting that will accelerate coastal flooding world-wide.

About the speakers

Professor David J Drewry. Director, Natural Sciences at the UK Commission for UNESCO (2017-25) and Honorary Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. Previously Director of the British Antarctic Survey and Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.

His research interests are in radio echo sounding and satellite radar altimetry of ice masses and ice-climate interactions. He has a mountain and a glacier named after him in Antarctica.

Dr Caroline Clason. Associate Professor at Durham University. She is a glaciologist specialising in glacier hydrology, with interests in both mountain and polar environments.

Caroline has a background in geography and has conducted research in multiple regions, from the Arctic to the Andes. Her work applies an interdisciplinary approach to assess the impacts of changing glacier meltwater production for water security and environmental quality under shifting patterns of climate and land use.

Professor Robert Bingham. University of Edinburgh. He is a glaciologist whose principal research addresses the causes and pace of polar ice-sheet change, and the contributions of polar ice sheets to global sea levels.

He was awarded the Polar Medal by H.M. the Queen in 2013 for contributions to Arctic and Antarctic science. Over the last decade observations gathered by his group across Antarctica have demonstrated active ice losses around Antarctica’s coast and provided valuable boundary conditions for projections of the ice sheet’s future.

Professor Noel Gourmelen. University of Edinburgh. He is involved in Earth Observation specialising in remote sensing and cryosphere studies. His research focuses on using satellite observations to understand glacier dynamics and ice sheet changes.

With a keen interest in radar altimetry, he has contributed significantly to innovation and applications based on CryoSat-2, and to the development of the upcoming CRISTAL mission. His work plays a crucial role in assessing global sea level rise. An advocate for collaborative science, he participates actively in international initiatives like GlaMBIE to advance the accuracy of glacier monitoring techniques.

Dr Hamish Pritchard. British Antarctic Survey. His focus is on the two great glaciology issues: ice-sheet deglaciation/sea level rise, and the role and future of mountain snow and ice as a water resource.

His work involves i) measuring glacier volumes on river-basin scale using a new airborne radar he developed and deployed in Nepal Himalaya, and ii) developing a better way to measure mountain snowfall over areas larger than hitherto.

Booking information

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• Step-free access to the event
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