The world’s glaciers are melting faster than at any time since records began, threatening catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people and their eco-systems. The details are revealed in the latest report from the World Glacier Monitoring Service and will add to growing alarm about the rise in sea levels and increased instances of flooding, … Read More
melting glaciers
Antarctic Glaciers “Surge” to Ocean
UK scientists working in Antarctica have found some of the clearest evidence yet of instabilities in the ice of part of West Antarctica. If the trend continues, they say, it could lead to a significant rise in global sea level. The new evidence comes from a group of glaciers covering an area the size of … Read More
Greenland Ice Melting at Unprecedented Rate Too
Just days after the revelation that Antarctica is melting faster than predicted (See blog), comes news that the Greenland ice sheet is also shrinking fast. Last summer Greenland’s ice sheet melted more than at anytime in the last 50 years, international glaciologists and climatologists report today in the Journal of Climate.
Sea Levels May Rise by 9 Inches This Century
The melting of mountain glaciers and ice caps as a result of global warming over the next century is likely to cause bigger than expected increases in sea levels, according to scientists. An assessment of the volume of water running into the oceans from melting ice caps suggests that sea levels could rise by two … Read More
Crisis in the Himalaya
Yesterday the Independent highlighted how rising sea-level rise is causing catastrophe in the South Pacific, and today the New York Times reports of melting Himalayan glaciers, which “points to a looming worldwide concern, with particularly serious repercussions for India and its neighbors”. The paper reports: “The thousands of glaciers studded across 1,500 miles of the … Read More
A Message from Melting Everest
On the eve of the Live Earth concerts this weekend, Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing the sons of the first two men to climb Everest, have said the mountain is now so ravaged by climate change that they would no longer recognise it. The Independent newspaper reports that the base camp where Sir Edmund and … Read More
Antarctic Glaciers Retreating Faster than Ever
More alarming news that climate change is occurring faster than previously expected. A new study by the British Antarctic Survey shows that 300 glaciers in Antarctica have begun to move more quickly into the ocean. Using radar images taken between 1993 and 2003, scientists at BAS in Cambridge mapped a 12 per cent increase in … Read More
Climate Change “Three Times Faster Than Worst Predictions”
As you might expect this week’s blog is going to focus heavily on the G8. We will have reports from Graham at the G8, (see his first one here) as well as all the main news stories relating to climate change – one of the main areas for discussion. Having blogged for Oil Change for … Read More
Retreating Himalayan Glaciers Spell Disaster for Bangladesh
Bangladesh is often seen as being in the fragile front line of climate change, being especially susceptible to sea-level rise. But now climate scientists are worrying about another equally dramatic effect – the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers that feed the great rivers on which the country depends.
Antarctic Ice Melting Rings Alarm Bells
The long-term stability of the massive ice sheets of Antarctica, which have the potential to raise sea levels by hundreds of metres, has been called into question with the discovery of fast-moving rivers of water sliding beneath their base. Scientists analysing satellite data were astonished to discover the size of the vast lakes and river … Read More