The Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) is a NERC Centre of Excellence that studies processes in the Earth’s polar latitudes that can affect the Earth’s albedo, polar atmosphere and ocean circulation, and global sea level.
CPOM uses theoretical and laboratory-derived information to form new models of interactions between the ice, ocean and atmosphere, and uses ground and satellite observations to test these and other climate models.
Latest News
20.01.22: The 10 climate papers most featured in the media in 2021 includes CPOM’s Cryosphere review paper of “Earth’s ice imbalance”
20.01.22: CPOM’s latest publication lead by PhD researcher Anne Braakmann-Folgmann (University of Leeds) shows Mega iceberg released 152 billion tonnes of fresh water into ocean
08.11.21: World’s ice is melting faster than ever – join Andy Shepherd as he discusses how long-term satellite observations from ESA’s Climate Change Initiative are key in monitoring changes in ice sheets over decade.
02.11.21: CPOM research shows global warming has caused extreme ice melting events in Greenland to become more frequent and more intense over the past 40 years, raising sea levels and flood risk worldwide.
31.10.21: CPOM PhD student Heather Selley’s research inspires glacier names to mark COP26
August 2021: Two fully funded studentships available – deadline 31st August 2021
07.05.21: CPOM Associate Tamsin Edwards leads study on projected land ice contributions to twenty-first-century sea level rise
23.04.21: CPOM contribute to the European State of the Climate 2020 Report
12.04.21: Watch Prof Andy Shepherd and Dr Tamsin Edwards Feature in the BBC One Documentary: Greta Thunberg – A Year to Change the World
21.04.21: Watch Heather Selley, CPOM PhD Researcher, talk about her work measuring changes in ice speed over the last 25 years in the Getz region of West Antarctica as part of the University of Leeds’s Climate Research LIVE webinar
23.02.2021: CPOM research student Heather Selley leads study showing glaciers in West Antarctica are moving more quickly from land into the ocean, contributing to rising global sea levels.
05.02.2021: Watch the International Space Science Institute’s webinar with Professor Andrew Shepherd (CPOM Director): “CryoSat – A Decade of Polar Altimetry”
25.01.21: CPOM research shows that global ice loss increases are at record rate
28.12.20: Dr Tamsin Edwards features on BBC4’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2020
23.12.20: CPOM scientists produce the first assessment of the changing shape of A68a, a giant iceberg heading towards Georgia
15.12.20: Dr Rosemary Willatt based at UCL awarded the Konrad Steffen Award at the ESA Polar Science Week conference.
03.12.20: Professor Seymour Laxon (1963-2013) and Dr Katharine Giles (1978-2013) amongst the 28 people honoured by new Antarctic place names
05.11.20: ESA has created a new online course, ‘EO from Space: The Cryosphere’, led by CPOM and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
17.09.20: CPOM researchers involved in NASA-led study, which shows ice sheets could add 39 centimetres to sea level by 2100
03.09.20: Sea level rise matches worst-case scenario
24.08.20: CPOM study shows that the earth has lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice in less than 30 years
18.08.20: CPOM co-authors on study that supports predictions of complete loss of Arctic sea-ice by 2035
20.07.20: CPOM research on the front page of Time magazine
23.04.20: CPOM researchers contribute to the newly released Copernicus European State of the Climate Report 2019
12.03.20: Six-fold increase in polar ice losses since the 1990s
21.02.20: Greenland losing ice ‘faster than expected’