Therefore the cryosphere directly relates to the economy and anything that affects the cry sphere negatively or positively will impact various sectors of the economy that is dependant on the cryosphere.
How the economy is impacted by the cryosphere
Climatic changes due to the continuous build up of anthropogenic green house gases will have significant consequences on the cryosphere. Cyrosphere loss has great implication and posses numerous threats to the ecosystem services as well as potential costs to the economy of the world worth trillions of dollars. It is estimated that over the 21st century alone one meter rise in sea level represents an economic impact to be one trillion. The loss of the cryosphere will result to impacts that are far reaching on the social, economic and geopolitical impacts. Snow cover plays a major role in climate and hydrological systems. People depend on snow conditions for their daily survival .The changes in snow cover might impact various activities these include agriculture (Grete, 2010). Reduced snow cover especially reduced summer soil moisture winter thawing events have a negative impact on agriculture including the herding of reindeers. Snowfall is beneficial to agriculture since it serves as thermal insulator as it conserves heat of the earth as it protects crops from freezing weather. Some agricultural areas depend upon the accumulation of snow during winter that melts in spring that will provide water for the growing of the crops. If the snow, melts into water then refreezes on sensitive crops like oranges the ice that results will protect the fruit from being exposed to low temperatures. If the agricultural activities are halted it means that the economy will be affected drastically (Greenpeace, 2005).
Changes in snow cover also affects the tourism industry this is because the melting snow will have an impact on the wildlife that are tourist attraction this means that there would be no longer attractions for tourists and hence the tourism industry will be affected. Other areas affected by snow cover...
Some benefits can also be seen from the reduced snow cover, this included more even run off from the snow that is melting which can be used to favor hydropower generation. This means that less
money will be put into other energy sources and therefore impact positively on the economy. Winter sports for recreation that depend on snow include snowboarding, snowshoeing and skiing. The skiing industry has been affected drastically due to snow cover change skiing contributes a large chunk of the economy of some countries. If there is no snow cover then it means that there is no area for people to ski. This means that a country that skiing is an important contributor to the economy means that their economies will be affected.
Reduced sea ice has an effect of exposing the coastal permafrost to waves that lead to increased coastal erosion. This erosion leads to destruction of infrastructure which will be costly to the economy when it comes to rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructure. Melting ice increases industrial as well as shipping activities which have a positive impact on the economy. The thawing of permafrost destabilizes structures that have been engineered at the same time causing destructive slides, flows and slumps.
Beyond ice sheets, glacial retreats in parts of the world will result to reduced water for human consumption, agriculture as well as hydro-electricity that shifts economic as well as social patterns. The cryospheric change is a challenge in many ways especially comes to activities that affect the economy.
References
Greenpeace. (2005).What is the Cryosphere and why Should we care. Retrieved March 11, 2013 from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/ice-melts-as-globe-warms/
Grete, K. (2010).Arctic societies, cultures people in a changing cryosphere. Retrieved march 11,2013 from http://amap.no/conferences/conf2011/3%20-%20Hovelsrud%20-%20SWIPA%20CPH%2010%20%20Hovelsrud%20AMAP%20may%202011.pdf
Maurer, J. (2004). Importance of the cryosphere. Retrieved March 11, 2013 from http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jmaurer/scatterometry/cryosphere_importance.html
National Snow and Ice Data Center. (2013).All about the cryosphere. Retrieved March 11, 2013 from http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/allaboutcryosphere.html
