Cryosphere decline beyond safe planetary limits, putting conditions for human society at risk

New research published at COP31 issues a stark warning about the health of the frozen parts of the planet, ice sheets, mountain glaciers, sea ice, permafrost and snow cover, known as the cryosphere. The study, published in Science, finds that human-driven climate change is degrading these landscapes beyond safe environmental limits, systematically threatening the Earth system conditions on which humanity fundamentally depends.