Article: “The Great Divide: A snowflake’s journey through Alberta”

The Great Divide: A snowflake’s journey through Alberta

By: Andrew Findlay

Mountain Life – Rocky Mountains – Winter 2025
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Snow Dome, rising on the edge of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, is a topographical anomaly. This icy, 3,456-metre monolith is what’s known as a hydrological apex because it perches at the junction of two landscape-defining continental features: the Great Divide and the Arctic Divide. Depending on what side of Snow Dome a snowflake falls, when it melts into a droplet of water it will flow into either the Arctic, Atlantic or Pacific Ocean…

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The Great Divide

Video: John Pomeroy Provides Keynote at COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion

John Pomeroy provided a keynote at COP29 on the issues we face as we move from the International Year for Glaciers’ Preservation (2025) to the Decade of Action for the Cryospheric Sciences (2025-2034). The recording is available to watch below or on YouTube.

From the International Year of Glaciers Preservation to Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences

This event aims to launch a global call for bridging the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025 and the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences 2025-2034. Leveraging the momentum from 2025 to build a solid foundation for the Decade, the event will focus on scientific collaboration, policy integration, and community actions. Further discussions will center on raising the profile of science and advancing scientific research to tackle cryosphere-related challenges globally. It will highlight the critical role of glaciers and the cryosphere in climate regulation, water resources, and sustainable development while emphasizing the urgent need for action.

Job Posting – Assistant Professor in Water Science (Tenure-Track) – Geography and Planning, University of Saskatchewan

Applications are invited for a full-time, tenure-track position in Water Science at the rank of Assistant Professor with the Department of Geography and Planning in the College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan, to begin July 1, 2025.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. at the time of appointment. The successful candidate is expected to establish an independent research program, contribute to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching, supervise undergraduate and graduate students, serve on student committees, and undertake relevant administrative activities, including meetings and committee work of the department, college and university. The ideal candidate will have expertise in process hydrology with experience in one or more of geomatics/remote sensing, modeling, field observations, and Indigenous community engagement. An interest in cold regions hydrology is an asset.

For more information, including how to apply, please view the PDF linked below:

Job Posting PDF

United Nations adopts resolution to establish the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences, 2025–2034

This text was taken from the World Climate Research Programme website. To view it on its original page, please click here.

August 19, 2024

The United Nations General Assembly adopted without a vote was a resolution titled “Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences, 2025–2034” (document A/78/L.99). By its terms, the Assembly proclaimed the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences to address the challenges associated with melting glaciers and changes to the cryosphere by advancing related scientific research and monitoring.

Introducing that text, the representative of France, speaking also on behalf of Tajikistan, spotlighted the vulnerability of glaciers and poles to climate change and their role in regulating climate, ocean levels and preserving biodiversity. Describing the cryosphere — the frozen components of the Earth’s system — as “an essential resource for our planet’s equilibrium”, she said that more than 30 countries, with the support of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), have launched an international appeal for the poles and glaciers, committing to launch a Decade of Cryospheric Sciences from 2025 to 2034. “This UN Decade will provide a political impetus needed to make this issue a priority on the multilateral agenda,” she said.

To read the press release, click here.