The global cryosphere : past present and future This is the first textbook to address all the components of the Earths cryosphere all forms of snow and ice both terrestrial and marine. It provides a concise but comprehensive summary of snow cover glaciers ice sheets lake and river ice permafrost sea ice and icebergs their past history and projected future state. It is designed for courses at upper undergraduate and graduate level in environmental science geography geology glaciology hydrology water resource engineering and ocean sciences. It also provides a superb up to date summary for researchers of the cryosphere. The book includes an extensive bibliography numerous figures and color plates thematic boxes on selected topics and a glossary. The book builds on courses taught by the authors for many decades at the University of Colorado and the University of Alberta. Whilst there are many existing texts on individual components of the cryosphere no other textbook covers the whole cryosphere