The cryosphere, defined as the set of regions where water remains in a solid state, plays a key role in the Earth’s climate system and is highly sensitive to climate change. This article explores the process of glacial ice formation and its main stages. We analyse how climate change and anthropogenic pollution are altering each of them. The main effects include the acceleration of snowmelt, the transformation of the microstructure of ice, and the loss of stability of large ice masses. Understanding these processes is crucial for assessing the impact of environmental changes on the cryosphere and designing mitigation strategies in the face of increasing global ice loss.

This paper builds on ideas developed in previous studies already published by the author and his collaborators. The research upon which this article is based had the financial support of the Spanish Government through the MicroFAME (PID2022-140975NB-I00), PaleoICE EXPLORA (CGL2015-72167-EXP), and iMechPro (RTI2018-100696-B-I00) projects, as well as the María de Maeztu seal of excellence for the periods 2018–2022 (MDM-2017-0714) and 2023–2027 (CEX2021-001201-M), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, with the support from the BALELUR-Sherpa project.