ICE³: Modelling the global multi-century evolution of glacier ICE in 3D

Glaciers are key contributors to sea-level rise and are important
water resources that supply fresh water to hundreds of millions of
people. It is therefore of crucial importance to accurately simulate the
future evolution of these precious ice bodies. Despite recent progress
in modelling the global evolution of glaciers, existing simulations
suffer from vast uncertainties related to (i) model input, (ii) a
simplified representation of glacier processes, and (iii) an important
mismatch between the timescales over which models are calibrated
(multi-annual to decadal) and those over which the future glacier
projections occur (century timescale). ICE³ will revolutionise the
regional- to global-scale modelling of glaciers, by (i) strongly reducing
uncertainties in model input through innovative inversion of climatic
information, (ii) developing new approaches to model glacier
processes in 3D, and (iii) for the first time simulating past glacier
evolution globally over centennial time scales with an ice-dynamic
model. These improvements will culminate in new global glacier
evolution projections under a range of future emission scenarios,
which will in turn inform the next generation of sea-level rise and
water availability projections. While redefining the landscape of largescale glacier modelling, ICE³ will also ensure that the novelties it
produces are incorporated in climate change impact models to guide
policy makers and practitioners in adapting to a changing
environment.