Earth’s Cryosphere Is Vital for Everyone. Here’s How NASA Keeps Track of Its Changes.

 Due to ice’s important role in the Earth system, NASA is committed to studying it extensively. 

Everything on our planet — the land, the water, the air, people — is connected by the various chemical, physical and biological processes that make up what we call the Earth system. 

One of the key components of that huge system is the cryosphere, or all of Earth’s frozen water. This important “sphere” includes frozen soils in Alaska, the snow on top of the Himalayas, as well as all the ice in the polar regions.