Glacier Extremes: The Role of Glacier Snow Albedo Feedbacks From Wildfires and Heatwaves in Enhancing Present and Future Mass Loss in Alaska

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Glaciers are rapidly losing mass, which impacts sea-level rise, water resources, ecosystems, climate, culture, and tourism. Improving our understanding of the drivers of mass change and our ability to project mass loss is therefore essential to support adaptation and mitigation efforts. This project seeks to advance our understanding of the role that wildfires and heatwaves have on enhancing present and future glacier mass loss in Alaska. The project will use and develop state-of-the-art glacier and climate models to account for important physical processes and feedbacks that are not included in current models. We will produce the first projections of the enhanced glacier mass loss caused by wildfires and heatwaves, which are projected to become increasingly frequent and widespread in the future. More broadly, we commit the project to the education and training of students and the public. Activities will include co-developing K-9 education modules on glaciers and climate change with local educators, lecturing in K-12 classes and posting Meet the Researcher interviews to help humanize us scientists, and developing educational materials geared towards the public for national parks in Alaska. The impact of wildfires and heatwaves on glacier mass loss is poorly understood. This project will focus on advancing our process-based understanding and quantifying the impact that wildfires, heatwaves, and corresponding feedbacks have on glacier mass loss in Alaska. We will use in situ measurements, remote sensing data, regional and global climate models, glacier energy balance models, and glacier evolution models to investigate the impact of these extreme events across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The investigators will develop new parameterizations for glacier energy balance and glacier evolution models to account for how the deposition of black and brown carbon from wildfires onto glacier surfaces enhances glacier melt. Case studies and controlled simulations will advance our process-based understanding of the primary and secondary feedback mechanisms driving glacier changes. The investigators will integrate this knowledge into state-of-the-art glacier evolution models to produce the first projections of glacier mass loss in Alaska that account for wildfires, heatwaves, and corresponding glacier feedbacks. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.