“Glaciers are witnesses to both past and present climate changes”
On the occasion of the first World Glacier Day, this Friday, March 21, Institut français de Norvège presents The Atlas of Glaciers, published by Éditions Autrement. This high-quality work was created by Denis Mercier, a geographer and author of a thesis on Svalbard. From Antarctic glaciers to those of the Greenland ice sheet and Svalbard, not to mention mountain glaciers, Denis Mercier offers a fascinating scientific journey into the heart of these giants, which are under threat from ongoing climate change.
Researchers at the French-German AWIPEV research station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, are actively working to improve our understanding of glaciers, unfortunate witnesses to climate change, whose melting is contributing significantly to rising sea levels worldwide.
In France, major research centers such as the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) in Grenoble, the Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE), ThéMA, and the Arctic GDR (AREES) play a key role in the study of glaciers and the Arctic. In response to the growing challenges faced by these fragile territories, French-Norwegian scientific collaboration is essential. We encourage you to take advantage of the cooperation opportunities provided by mobility support programs, developed in close partnership between Institut français de Norvège and the Norwegian Research Council. Programs like Åsgard, PHC Aurora, and Åsgard Horizon can serve as effective tools for establishing sustainable partnerships and opening new avenues for your research.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Preservation, following an initiative by Tajikistan and France. Events organized under this framework will be key milestones in the preparation for the 2032-2033 International Polar Year!
Author
Denis Mercier, a tenured geography professor at Sorbonne University, is the director of the university’s Geography and Urban Planning Department. He is affiliated with the Laboratory of Physical Geography: Quaternary and Current Environments (UMR 8591 CNRS), where he co-leads the cryosphere theme. He is a member of the Arctic Research Group: Environmental and Societal Challenges (GDR 2012 CNRS) and an honorary member of the University Institute of France (2009 cohort). From 2020 to 2024, he served as president of the French Geomorphology Group. His research focuses on the impact of climate change on polar (Svalbard) and subpolar (Iceland) environments and on the risk of coastal flooding due to rising sea levels. He is the author of Runoff in Spitsbergen, The Polar World Facing Climate Change (Presses universitaires Blaise-Pascal, 2001) and A Synthesis on Paraglacial Geomorphology (Presses universitaires européennes, 2011). He has also directed several manuals, including The Commentary on Landscapes in Physical Geography (Armand Colin, 2004), Geomorphology of France (Dunod, 2013), and Spatial Impacts of Climate Change (ISTE, 2021).
Cartographer
Gaëlle Sutton has been an independent cartographer for five years. She works with the press, publishing houses, and consulting firms on themes often related to the environment and climate change. She also assists researchers in the cartographic representation of their work and research data.