Severnaya Zemlya is a forbidding place in which to conduct research. Located in the Russian High Arctic north of Siberia’s Taymyr Peninsula, it has a large population of collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx torquatus), no permanent human population, and a mean annual temperature of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit. It does, however, have glaciers. More than 20 significant glaciers cover the four main islands making up this archipelago. For Dr. Joan Ramage, these glaciers are an important part of her studies into the distribution of glaciers and the impacts of environmental changes to glaciers, snowpack, and the cryosphere.
The term cryosphere refers to any place on Earth where water is in its solid form, and includes snow, river, and lake ice; sea ice; ice sheets, ice shelves, glaciers, and ice caps; and frozen ground (such as permafrost). According to data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the cryosphere covers 52-55% of Earth’s land surface. While glaciers represent only 0.5% of this total, seasonal snow cover, which is variable, can represent up to 30% of this total in the Northern Hemisphere alone, according to the IPCC.