Something of a melting ice feel to start this morning. Mountain glaciers are shrinking three times faster than they were in the 1980s, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), which continuously studies a sample of 30 glaciers around the world. The acceleration is due to climate change.
melting glaciers
Canadian Ice Shelf sets sail
Scientists studying satellite imagery from the Canadian Arctic have just discovered that the Ayles Ice Shelf broke free of Ellesmere Island sixteen months ago. In an AP story running widely this morning, Warwick Vincent of Laval University said: “This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the … Read More
Water for Millions at Risk as Glaciers Melt Away
Millions of people in South America and Asia face chronic water shortages within decades as the world’s glaciers and ice caps are now in terminal decline because of climate change. A survey has revealed that the rate of melting across the world has sharply accelerated in recent years, placing even previously stable glaciers in jeopardy.
South American Cities At Risk As Glaciers Melt
New research has found that Andean glaciers are melting so fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years, denying major cities water supplies and putting populations and food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia. Some glaciers in Colombia are now less than 20% of the mass recorded … Read More
Glaciers Melting Fastest for 5,000 Years
Mountain glaciers are melting faster now than at any time in the past 5,000 years because of climate change, a new study has found. From the Andes to the Himalayas climate change is leading to a full-scale retreat of the world’s tropical glaciers, meaning that we might have passed the critical threshold which could see … Read More