To quote the environmental historian Sverker Sörlin, we are living through a “cryo-historical moment”. An ever growing awareness of the decline of the earth’s frozen regions and the consequences this will have for nature and society is matched by an ever growing sense of urgency to do something about it. Most notably, the United Nations declared 2025 to mark the start of the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Science. This initiative is aimed at promoting understanding of the “cryosphere”—a catchall term for the Earth’s snow, ice, and permafrost—and the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the profound changes it is currently experiencing. Beyond the Decade of Action, many other initiatives are emerging, taking place on local to international scales, designed to raise the profile of an endangered cryosphere. 

It can therefore be easy to overlook that the “cryosphere” and “cryospheric science” have their own histories. For much of these histories, the meaning and relevance of these concepts was far from self-evident. Coined in 1923, the term “cryosphere” did not become part of the mainstream of earth and environmental science until the final quarter of the century. Meanwhile, its meaning changed, and to this day it can be hard to identify where the cryosphere “starts”. Over time, different kinds of researchers and research institutions would become involved in the cryosphere. In sum, what do we mean when we talk about “cryospheric science”? What is the Decade of Action actually for? 

In my current research project, I explore where these concepts come from and how their meanings changed over time. Two questions in particular lie at the heart of my research. The first simply asks why it took the concept of the “cryosphere” over half a century to become widely accepted by scientists? It will lead me to the writings of early cryosphere promoters and detractors, and the institutional histories of the organisations which today claim to represent the concept’s associated science. The second question unpacks what it means to study the cryosphere, specifically what role research laboratories played and continue to play in an area of science traditionally associated with the (frozen) “field”? In addition to examining the archives of some of the world’s leading institutions working on snow, ice, and permafrost, I also bring in perspectives from current-day cryospheric researchers to answer this. Altogether, I hope to bring some much-needed historical perspective on this prominent yet vague domain of earth science, complementing ongoing efforts to take it forward in this “Decade of Action”.