Our Frozen Planet – 5 Questions with the Authors, Michael Hambrey and Jürg Alean
We had the privilege of sitting down with Michael Hambrey and Jürg Alean, the authors of Our Frozen Planet, to explore their fascinating work on the cryosphere – Earth’s frozen regions. In this interview, they share their experiences from some of the most extreme and breathtaking places on the planet, delve into the tangible impacts of climate change they’ve witnessed firsthand, and reveal the personal journeys that inspired their lifelong dedication to glaciology. Here are five questions with the experts behind this inspiring book.
1. Why does the world need this book?
MICHAEL and JÜRG: Our planet has vast regions that are covered by snow and ice. These regions are collectively referred to as the ‘cryosphere’, which includes 10% of our land area being covered by glacier ice, even greater expanses covered by seasonal snow or underlain by permafrost, and the polar oceans covered by seasonal and once-permanent sea ice.
The features of snow and ice, in whatever form, are of immeasurable beauty, which this book illustrates, whether in the form of the tiniest snow crystal or the largest glacier.
All components of the cryosphere are now under severe stress, rapidly reducing in area at an accelerating rate as a consequence of human-induced global heating. This book, composed of illustrations from all over the world by the authors, explains the nature of the cryosphere and how it is changing now, and how it has changed in the past.
The presence and decline of the cryosphere strongly influence humanity’s activities, whether from rising seas levels, reduction in water resources for irrigation and hydropower, the impact of associated hazards, and the challenge to snow-sport tourism. Furthermore, snow and ice have a profound effect on the health of ecosystems, with many species affected by declining snow and ice cover.
The book therefore aims to draw attention to how the cryosphere is changing as a consequence of human activity on a global scale, and demonstrates the beauty of this component of Planet Earth, and highlights what we are now in the process of losing.
2. You’ve documented your travels to some remarkable places in this book. What’s the most extreme place to which your research has taken you?
MICHAEL: I have been to numerous remote regions where there have been extremes of temperature, precipitation, wind and altitude, ranging from the polar regions to high mountain ranges.
Perhaps the remotest and coldest field area I have undertaken was on the Shackleton Glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains, just 500 km from the South Pole, albeit with the vast logistical support of the US National Science Foundation. This glacier drains part of the immense East Antarctic Ice Sheet, flowing through the mountains to reach sea level in the Ross Ice Shelf. It is surrounded with mountain ranges and isolated ‘nunataks’, which are essentially bare arid stony wastes, but preserve a remarkable geological record. With colleagues I was investigating early glacial events, preserved in sediments, at a time when the Antarctic climate was much warmer, and vegetation was growing along the glacier margins.
JÜRG: Expedition Fjord, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada.
3. Do you have a favourite spread, page, or photograph from the book? What is the story behind it?
MICHAEL: Daugaard-Jensson Gletscher, East Greenland, pp 118-119
This is the terminus of one of the major outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet, at the head of the world’s longest, and arguably finest, fjord. The glacier terminates in the sea as a floating tongue, and is one of the most prolific producers of large icebergs, many of which are sublime components of the landscape. Very few ships have actually reached the terminus due to the large numbers of icebergs that are densely packed into the inner reaches of the fjord. As on several other occasions, in September 2017 I had the good fortune to sail on the Quark Expedition ship ‘Ocean Nova’, a small ice-strengthened vessel, carrying around 70 guests and a similar number of staff and crew. I was employed as the expedition’s geologist/glaciologist, and had the privilege of explaining what we were seeing as we sailing in and out of several fjords in this stunningly beautiful part of the world.
JÜRG: Axel Heiberg Island, pp. 142-143
This double page spread shows, on the upper left, Phantom Peak on Axel Heiberg Island, where I did fieldwork in 1976, 1977, 2008 and 2022 (aerial photo by Mike Hambrey). I scaled this mountain in July 1977, after a two-day ski and foot journey to its vicinity, carrying all camping and surveying equipment. Phantom Peak is arguably the most prominent and attractive peak in the expedition area, climbed by no more than a handful of people. Our party of four reached the top in ideal weather conditions. However, this was only after a dangerous traverse of two frozen-over ice-dammed lakes, one of which is visible in the foreground. For the ascent we used touring skis, and the descent over perfectly uniform snow was the best (and fastest) ever from any mountain on this wonderful High-Arctic island – an experience of a lifetime!
4. What’s the most severe, or tangible, consequence of the current global climate crisis that you have seen yourself?
MICHAEL: Over the course of five decades, I have seen many severe impacts of the global climate crisis both in the polar regions and in the high mountain ranges of the world. Change in those regions is manifested most strongly in the recession of glaciers. This is particularly noticeable in the Norwegian High-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, where average annual temperatures have risen several degrees Celsius in my lifetime. Many glaciers have thinned and their termini have receded, sometimes by several kilometres, and have become decaying carcases, riddled with meltwater cavities and draped in debris. Extensive fields of bare rubble are left behind, forming a scar of the landscape. Yet even here, new signs of life, are beginning to appear – in the form of delicate plants such as saxifrage and poppies.
JÜRG: The catastrophic recession of glaciers in the European Alps.
5. You’ve been a glaciologist most of your life. How did you get into it, and what drew you to this work in the first place?
MICHAEL: As a teenager, I became keen on fell-walking, particularly in the English Lake District and Snowdonia, both of which have fine landscapes fashioned during the Ice Age. Both areas were accessible from Manchester where I was at university. Inevitably, I then wanted to learn about real glaciers, so when the opportunity arose, following graduation, to undertake a glaciology PhD in northern Norway under the supervision of Wilfred Theakstone, I jumped at the chance. It was a tough assignment, however, as the weather was so poor, with constant gales, rain and snow, but I always remember my external examiner saying “If you are daft enough to work on a Norwegian glacier, you deserve a PhD!”.
That experience did not put me off, so when a research position came along at ETH Zürich soon after (in 1974) to work with Professor Fritz Müller and Dr Geoffrey Milnes on Swiss Alpine glaciers, I was fortunate to get it. Here, I met Jürg Alean, and since that time we have written several books and spent a lot of time in the field together.
A change of tack followed my three years in Zürich, when I had the chance to join the famous Arctic geologist at the University of Cambridge, Brian Harland, who put me onto the task of collating ancient glaciations around the world, and undertaking fieldwork on Precambrian glacial rocks in Svalbard and Greenland. This meant that I was able to apply my knowledge of glacial processes to understanding the geological record.
Since that time my research has alternated between modern glacial processes and the geological record of glaciation, including testing the imaginative ‘Snowball Earth’ hypothesis of global glaciation. Later, while employed to teach geology and physical geography at Liverpool John Moores University and Aberystwyth University, I have had the fortune to work in many glaciated regions of the world. Here, the attraction has been the magnificent scenery, the serenity and peace one finds there, the interaction with the plants and animals that live on the edge of survival, and the fellowship of scientists all seeking to unravel the mysteries of our wonderful planet.
JÜRG: I have been a part time glaciologist. As a student, I assisted Mike in some fieldwork on Griesgletscher, central Switzerland. This got me “hooked” on glaciers. Later on, my Professor (Fritz Müller, then of McGill University Montreal and ETH Zürich) facilitated my first expeditions to the Canadian Arctic. Leafing through Our Frozen Planet, and looking at photos of glaciers and landscapes of Axel Heiberg Island, will perhaps make my obsession with that island understandable!
If this post has piqued your interest, you’ll be pleased to hear that Our Frozen Planet is out now and available for purchase – just in time for Christmas! All available purchase links can be found here
