Frozen-Ground Cartoons—Revealing the Invisible Ice

Occupying more than 20 million square kilometres of the Earth’s high-latitude and high-altitude landscapes, permafrost—or frozen ground—is not only a key component of our global climate, but it is arguably the most overlooked, invisible component of the cryosphere. Yet, just like the often-media-depicted ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, or mountain glaciers around the world, permafrost regions are highly sensitive to climate change and human activities, and therefore permafrost research is of considerable scientific and societal importance. The Frozen-Ground Cartoons project was born with the urge to make permafrost science accessible and fun for the general public, especially for school kids, students and teachers. The creation and release of a booklet of comic strips was the original outcome; however, the project quickly evolved into a series of ‘by-products’, including translations into several languages, augmented reality materials (maps, photos, videos, 3D drawings), a board game and so on. And it is not over yet!—as this chapter on the project shows.