125 years of internationally coordinated glacier monitoring

Worldwide collection of information about ongoing glacier changes was initiated in August 1894 with the foundation of the International Glacier Commission at the 6th International Geological Congress in Zurich, Switzerland (Forel, 1895). Today, grown to a worldwide collaboration network in more than 40 countries, glacier monitoring is coordinated within the framework of the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers. GTN-G is run by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS). These three bodies operate under the coordination and support of the GTN-G Advisory Board which is chaired by the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences. In 2019, we celebrated the 125 year jubilee of internationally coordinated glacier monitoring jointly with IACS during the IUGG General Assembly in Montreal, Canada, and with our National Correspondents during the WGMS General Assembly. The General Assembly was split into three regional meetings which allowed us to focus on regional challenges and networks and to cut in half the related carbon footprint.

summary report

WGMS (2020): 125 years of internationally coordinated glacier monitoring: achievements and future challenges – Summary report on the IUGG General Assembly and the WGMS General Assembly of National Correspondents 2019. World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland, 63 pp.pdf

video messages from meeting to meeting (see also here):

Video message WGMS to Montréal (IUGG)

9-16 July 2019 IUGG General Assembly, Montréal, Canada

Video message Montréal (IUGG) to GA in Zürich

14-17 August 2019 WGMS General Assembly Europe and North America, Zurich, Switzerland

Video message GA in Zürich to GA in Almaty

10-14 September 2019 WGMS General Assembly Asia, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Video message GA in Almaty to GA in El Calafate

22-26 October 2019 WGMS General Assembly Latin America, El Calafate, Argentina

Video message GA in El Calafate to WGMS