Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences
University of Innsbruck
Innrain 52f
A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Tel: ++43 (0)512-507-54457
Email: gerog.kaser(at)uibk.ac.at
https://www.uibk.ac.at/acinn/people/georg-kaser.html
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/m/kaser-georg/
Date of birth: 15 April 1953;
Place of birth: Meran, Italy, Nationality: Italian
● mass and energy balances on glaciers ● fluctuations of climate and glaciers ● glaciology, climatology and hydrology in tropical mountain regions ● fresh water availability and demand ● global glacier mass change and drivers.
Since 2015: Dean of the Faculty of Geo- and Atmospheric Sciences;
Since 2010: Full professor for Climate and Cryospheric Research at the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Innsbruck; Ice and Climate Group leader.
2010 – 2015: Chair: Innsbruck University Centre of Climate and Cryosphere.
1997 - 2010: Associate professor at the Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck.
1985 - 1997: Assistant professor at the Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck.
1984 - 1985: Assistant professor at the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, Uni. of Innsbruck.
1973 - 1982: Student Assistant at the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, Uni. of Innsbruck.
2012 – 2013: Contributing Author: SPM and TS, IPCC 5th Assessment Report (2013)
2010 – 2013: Lead Author: WG1, Ch. 4, IPCC 5th Assessment Report (2013)
2010 – 2013: Contributing Author: WG1, Ch. 10 and 13, IPCC 5th Assessment Report (2013)
2007 – 2008: Lead Author: IPCC Technical Paper on Water and Climate Change (2008)
2004 – 2007: Lead Author: WG1, Ch. 4, IPCC 4th Assessment Report (2007)
2011 – 2014 – 2017: Member of the board of trustees: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
2007 – 2011: Funder President: International Associations for Cryospheric Sciences, IACS/IUGG.
2003 – 2007: President elect and President of the IUGG-Commission for the Cryospheric Sciences.
1999 – 2003: Secretary of the International Commission of Snow and Ice, ICSI/IAHS/IUGG
Since 1986: University lecturer in different topics of glaciology, climatology, hydrology, cartography.
1997-2010: Co-organiser and lecturer: International Karthaus Summer School on “Glaciers and Ice Sheets in the Climate System” (Karthaus, Italy)
2002 Organiser, trainer: ICSI/UNESCO training course: glacier mass balance measurements and analyses (New Delhi and Chhota Shigri Glacier, India);
2005 Co-organiser: ICSI/UNESCO training course: glacier mass balance measurements and analyses (Zongo Glacier, Bolivia);
2009 Organiser, trainer: IACS/UNESCO training course: glacier mass balance measurements and analyses (Kathmandu and Yala Glacier, Nepal)
11 Postdocs (since 1999)/ 9 PhD (since 1999)/ 28 Diploma/Master Students (since 1987)
Since 1997: Co-initiator and-co-coordinator of the annual Alpine Glaciology Meeting.
Besides convening many sessions at conferences, member of Scientific Program Committee:
2007: IUGG Assembly, Perugia;
2009: Joint IAMAS-IAPSO-IACS Assembly MOCA, Montreal;
2011: UGG General Assembly Melbourne (2011).
● Convener of various symposia and sessions at scientific conferences since 1997 ● Editor of conference proceedings ● Reviewer for scientific journals (Science, Journal of Glaciology, The Cryosphere, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research etc.) ● Reviewer for UK, USA, German, Danish, Australian, and Swiss Science Foundations, ERC.
Cordillera Blanca (>15), Kilimanjaro (12), Mt. Kenya (5), Rwenzori (2), Alps, Himachal Pradesh (1), Langtang (1).
Kaser, G., I. Juen, C. Georges, J. Gomez, and W. Tamayo (2003): The impact of glaciers on the runoff and the reconstruction of mass balance history from hydrological data in the tropical Cordillera Blanca, Perú. Journal of Hydrology, 288(1-4), 130-144.
Mölg, T., C. Georges, G. Kaser (2003): The contribution of increased incoming shortwave radiation to the retreat of the Rwenzori Glaciers, East Africa, during the 20th century. International Journal of Climatology, vol. 23, 291-303.
Kaser, G., D.R. Hardy, T. Mölg, R. Bradley, T.M. Hyera (2004): Modern glacier retreat on Kilimanjaro as evidence of climate change: Observations and facts. International Journal of Climatology 24, 329-339.
Mölg, T, D.R. Hardy, G. Kaser (2003): Solar-radiation maintained glacier recession on Kilimanjaro drawn from combined ice-radiation modelling. J. of Geophysical Research, 108(D23), 4731, doi:10.1029/2003JD003546, 2003.
Mölg, T., M. Renold, M. Vuille, N.J. Cullen, T.F. Stocker, G. Kaser (2006): Indian Ocean Zonal Mode activity in a multicentury-integration of a coupled AOGCM consistent with climate proxy data. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L18710, doi:10.1029/2006GL026384.
Kaser, G. J.G. Cogley, M.B. Dyurgerov, M.F. Meier, A. Ohmura (2006): Mass balance of glaciers and ice caps: Consensus estimates for 1961–2004. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L19501, doi:10.1029/2006GL027511.
Lemke, P., J. Ren, R.B. Alley, I. Allison, J. Carrasco, G. Flato, Y. Fujii, G. Kaser, P. Mote, R.H. Thomas and T. Zhang (2007): Observations: Changes in Snow, Ice and Frozen Ground. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
Mölg, T., D.R. Hardy, N.J. Cullen, G. Kaser (2007): Tropical glaciers in the context of climate change and society: Focus on Kilimanjaro (East Africa). In Orlave, B., E. Wiegandt, B. Luckman (eds.): Mountain Glaciers and Society. California University Press, Berkley.
Cullen, N.J., T. Mölg, D.R. Hardy, K. Steffen, and G. Kaser (2007): Energy balance model validation on the top of Kilimanjaro using eddy correlation data. Annals of Glaciology, 46, 227-233.
Mölg, T., Cullen, N.J., Hardy, D.R., Kaser, G. and Klok, L. (2007) Mass Balance of a Slope Glacier on Kilimanjaro and its Sensitivity to Climate. International Journal of Climatology. DOI: 10.1002/joc.1589
Vuille, M., G. Kaser, I. Juen (2008) Glacier mass balance variability in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru and its relationship with climate and the large-scale circulation. Global and Planetary Change, 62(1/2), 14-28. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2007.11.003
Winkler, M., I. Juen, T. Mölg, P. Wagnon, J. Gómez, and G. Kaser (2009): Measured and modelled sublimation on the tropical Glaciar Artesonraju. The Cryosphere, 3, 21-30.
Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, D.R. Hardy, M. Winkler, and G. Kaser (2009): Quantifying climate change in the tropical mid troposphere over East Africa from glacier shrinkage on Kilimanjaro. Journal of Climate, 22, 4162-4181.
Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, and G. Kaser (2009): Solar radiation, cloudiness and longwave radiation over low-latitude glaciers: Implications for mass balance modeling. Journal of Glaciology, 55, 292-302.
Cogley, J.G., J.S. Kargel, G. Kaser, and C.J. van der Veen (2010): Tracking the Source of Glacier Misinformation. Science, 327, 522.
Winkler, M., G. Kaser, N.J. Cullen, T. Mölg, D.R. Hardy, and W.T. Pfeffer (2010): Land-based marginal ice cliffs: focus on Kilimanjaro. Erdkunde, 64, 2, 179-193.
Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, and G. Kaser (2010): Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro is an exceptional case. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 107, E68.
Kaser, G., T. Mölg, N.J. Cullen, D.R. Hardy, and M. Winkler (2010): Is the decline of ice on Kilimanjaro unprecedented in the Holocene? The Holocene, 20, 1079-1091.
Hofer, M., T. Mölg, B. Marzeion, and G. Kaser (2010): Statistical downscaling of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis to high-resolution air temperature and specific humidity above a glacier surface (Cordillera Blanca, Peru). Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, D12120, doi:10.1029/2009JD012556.
Kaser, G., M. Großhauser, and B. Marzeion (2010): Contribution potential of glaciers to water availibility in different climate regimes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 20223-20227.
Ajai, L. Bengtsson, D. Breashears, P.J. Crutzen, S. Fuzzi, W. Haeberli, W.W. Immerzeel, G. Kaser, C. Kennel, A. Kulkarni, R. Pachauri, T. H. Painter, J. Rabassa, V. Ramanathan, A. Robock, C. Rubbia, L. Russell, M. Sánchez Sorondo, H.J. Schellnhuber, S. Sorooshian, T. F. Stocker, L.G. Thompson, O.B. Toon, D. Zaelke (2011). Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene. A Report by the Working Group Commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The Vatican, May 2, 2011, pp. 15.
Prinz, R., A. Fischer, L. Nicholson, and G. Kaser (2011): Seventy-six years of mean mass balance rates derived from recent and re-evaluated ice volume measurements on tropical Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya, Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L20502, doi:10.1029/2011GL049208.
Cogley J.G., R. Hock, L.A. Rasmussen, A.A. Arendt, A. Bauder, R.J. Braithwaite, P. Jansson, G. Kaser, M. Möller, L. Nicholson, and M. Zemp (2011): Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance andRelated Terms. IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 86, IACS Contribution No. 2, UNESCO-IHP, Paris.
Mölg, T., and G. Kaser (2011): A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, D16101.
Marzeion, B., Hofer, M., Jarosch, A. H., Kaser, G., and Mölg, T. (2012): A minimal model for reconstructing interannual mass balance variability of glaciers in the European Alps, The Cryosphere, 6, 71-84, doi:10.5194/tc-6-71-2012.
Prinz R, Nicholson L, Kaser G. Variations of the Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya, 2004-2012. (2012) Erdkunde. 66:255 - 262.
Diemberger, H., K. Hastrup, S. Schaffer, C. F. Kennel, D. Sneath, M. Bravo, H.-F. Graf, J. Hobbs, J. Davis, M. L. Nodari, G. Vassena, R. Irvine, C. Evans, M. Strathern, M. Hulme, G. Kaser & B. Bodenhorn (2012) Communicating Climate Knowledge Proxies, Processes, Politics. Current Anthropology, 53, 226-244.
Painter TH, Flanner MG, Kaser G, Marzeion B, VanCuren RA, Abdalati W. End of the Little Ice Age in the Alps forced by industrial black carbon. (2013) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110:15216 - 15221.
Paal P, Brugger H, Kaser G, Putzer G, Tiefenthaler W, Wenzel V. (2013) Surviving 6 days in a crevass. The Lancet. 381:506.
Nicholson L, Prinz R, Mölg T, Kaser G. (2013) Micrometeorological conditions and surface mass and energy fluxes on Lewis glacier, Mt Kenya, in relation to other tropical glaciers. The Cryosphere. 7:1205 - 1225.
Gurgiser W, Mölg T, Nicholson L, Kaser G. (2013) Mass balance model parameter transferability on a tropical glacier. Journal of Glaciology. 59:845 - 858.
Gurgiser W, Marzeion B, Nicholson L, Ortner M, Kaser G. (2013) Modeling energy and mass balance of Shallap Glacier, Peru. The Cryosphere. 7:1787 - 1802.
Gardner, A. S., G. Moholdt, J. G. Cogley, B. Wouters, A. A. Arendt, J. Wahr, E. Berthier, R. Hock, W. T. Pfeffer, G. Kaser, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, T. Bolch, M. J. Sharp, J. O. Hagen, M. R. van den Broeke & F. Paul (2013) A Reconciled Estimate of Glacier Contributions to Sea Level Rise: 2003 to 2009. Science, 340, 852-857.
Vaughan, D. G., J. C. Comiso, I. Allison, J. Carrasco, G. Kaser, R. Kwok, P. Mote, T. Murray, F. Paul, J. Ren, E. Rignot, O. Solomina, K. Steffen & T. Zhang. 2013. Observations: Cryosphere. In Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the FifthAssessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eds. T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S. K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex & P. M. Midgley. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA; G. Kaser: Drafting Contributing Author (among others)
Pfeffer W. T., A. A. Arendet, A. Bliss, T. Bolch, J. G. Cogley, A. S. Gardner, J.-O. Hagen, R. Hock, G. Kaser, C. Kienholz, E. S. Miles, G. Moholdt, N. Mölg, F. Paul, V. Radic, P. Rastner, B. H. Raup, J. Rich, M. J. Sharp & the RGI Consortium (2014): The Randolph Glacier Inventory: a globally complete inventory of glaciers. Journal of Glaciology.
Bahr, D. B., W. T. Pfeffer and G. Kaser (2014) Glacier volume estimation as an ill-posed inversion. Journal of Glaciology, 60, 922-934. doi: 10.3189/2014JoG14J062
Marzeion, B. and Kaser, G., 2014: Peak Water: An Unsustainable Increase in Water Availability From Melting Glaciers. In Kohler, T., Wehrli, A., and Jurek, M. (eds.), Mountains and climate change: A global concern. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Geographica Bernensia, 47-50.
Bahr, D. B., Pfeffer, W. T., and Kaser, G., 2015: A Review of Volume-Area Scaling of Glaciers. Reviews of Geophysics2014RG000470.
Galos, S. P., Klug, C., Prinz, R., Rieg, L., Dinale, R., Sailer, R., and Kaser, G., 2015: Recent glacier changes and related contribution potential to river discharge in the Vinschgau / Val Venosta region, Italy. Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, 38143-154.
Maussion, F., Gurgiser, W., Großhauser, M., Kaser, G., and Marzeion, B., 2015: ENSO influence on surface energy and mass balance at Shallap Glacier, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. The Cryosphere, 9(4): 1663-1683.
Prinz, R., L. I. Nicholson, T. Mölg, W. Gurgiser, and G. Kaser, 2016: Climatic controls and climate proxy potential of Lewis Glacier, Mt. Kenya. The Cryosphere, 10, 133 - 148, doi:10.5194/tc-10-133-2016.
Gurgiser, W., Juen, I., Singer, K., Neuburger, M., Schauwecker, S., Hofer, M., and Kaser, G., 2016: Comparing peasants' perceptions of precipitation change with precipitation records in the tropical Callejón de Huaylas, Peru. Earth Syst. Dynam., 7(2): 499-515.
Kommission Klima und Luftqualität
Kommission Klima und Luftqualität
Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
1010 Wien
T +43 1 51581-3210
KKL(at)oeaw.ac.at