This second edition defines different parts of the cryosphere including: permafrost, snow, land ice, sea ice, ocean, atmosphere and covers numerical modelling of thermodynamic exchanges: conservation of mass, energy, and momentum. It explores the physical basis behind phenomena such as formation of stone circles from melt-freeze processes, snow crystal formation and pressure-melting of glaciers. As an engaging course text for students, it discusses the contribution of melt to sea level ris...