Zeeburg Nieuws / Climate Change / Mountain glaciers are melting

Oslo, March 08, 2010 - (Reuters / Planet Ark) - The world has become far too hot for the aptly named Exit Glacier in Alaska. Like many low-altitude glaciers, it's steadily melting, shrinking two miles over the past 200 years as it tries to strike a new balance with rising temperatures.
At the Kenai Fjords National Park south of Anchorage, managers have learned to follow the Exit and other glaciers, moving signs and paths to accommodate the ephemeral rivers of blue and white ice as they retreat up deeply carved valleys.
"Some of the stuff is changing fast enough that we now have signs on moving pedestals," said Fritz Klasner, natural resource specialist at Kenai Fjords.
> www.planetark.com: Glacier Melting A Key Clue To Tracking Climate Change

Tajikistan risks calamity over climate change: Oxfam

London, February 17, 2010 - Tajikistan faces potentially calamitous food and water shortages unless action is taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, including rapidly retreating glaciers, Oxfam warned on Wednesday.
The Oxfam report, entitled "Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change and Poverty in Central Asia" said there has already been a rise by some 1.0-1.2 degrees Celsius in parts of the country over the past 60 years. Some 20 percent of the country's glaciers have retreated and up to 30 percent more are likely to retreat or disappear by 2050, it said.
. www.spacedaily.com: Tajikistan risks calamity over climate change: Oxfam

IPCC Climate scientist says Himalayan glacier report is 'robust and rigorous'

London, February 14, 2010 - The scientist at the centre of the storm over mistakes by the UN's climate change panel has broken his silence on the affair to defend his report as "robust and rigorous".
> www.guardian.co.uk: IPCC Climate scientist says Himalayan glacier report is 'robust and rigorous'

In the Mountains of the Moon, A Trek to Africa’s Last Glaciers

New Haven, February 4, 2010 - The shrinking ice cap atop Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s most famous glacier. But the continent harbors other pockets of ice, most notably in the Rwenzori Mountains of western Uganda. And as temperatures rise, the Rwenzori’s tropical glaciers — located as high as 16,500 feet — are fast disappearing.
> e360.yale.edu: In the Mountains of the Moon, A Trek to Africa’s Last Glaciers

Black Carbon a Significant Factor in Melting of Himalayan Glaciers

Berkeley (Cal/USA), February 3, 2010 - The fact that glaciers in the Himalayan mountains are thinning is not disputed. However, few researchers have attempted to rigorously examine and quantify the causes. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Surabi Menon set out to isolate the impacts of the most commonly blamed culprit—greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide—from other particles in the air that may be causing the melting. Menon and her collaborators found that airborne black carbon aerosols, or soot, from India is a major contributor to the decline in snow and ice cover on the glaciers.
> newscenter.lbl.gov: Black Carbon a Significant Factor in Melting of Himalayan Glaciers
> www.pnas.org: Black soot and the survival of Tibetan glaciers

Glacier-melting debate highlights importance of satellites

Brussels, February 1, 2010 - The intense public debate on how rapidly the Himalayan glaciers are retreating highlights the necessity for the constant monitoring of glaciers worldwide by satellites.
Since glaciers are among the most reliable indicators of climate change and because they can have a major influence on water availability, knowledge of the recent changes and future behaviour is of great interest for climate scientists and governing bodies. A key to assess these changes or to model their future evolution is the existence of a detailed glacier inventory.
> www.esa.int: Glacier-melting debate highlights importance of satellites

The real Himalayan scandal
London, January 20, 2010 - After the University of East Anglia's email scandal, climate sceptics now believe they have another cause for celebration. Some British papers claimed this week that climate change "theories" are in doubt because of the retraction of an unfounded claim in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2007.
The item alleged that the glaciers of the Himalayas could disappear by 2035. It was drawn from a campaigning report by the WWF, which had taken it from an interview with an Indian glaciologist published years earlier in New Scientist. It was not based on peer-reviewed science and should not have been included in the IPCC's fourth assessment report.
However, what is really worrying about the report is how little it has to say about the future of the Himalayas-Hindu Kush, a region on which nearly 40% of the world's population depends for water. There was a striking lack of useful data on the possible fate of the largest store of fresh water outside the poles – and no available fieldwork, it would appear, on glaciers that feed all the major river systems of Asia.
> www.guardian.co.uk: The real Himalayan scandal
> www.guardian.co.uk: A mistake over Himalayan glaciers should not melt our priorities
> Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035 (Nov 11 2008)

IPCC statement on the melting of Himalayan glaciers
Geneva, January 20, 2010 - The Synthesis Report, the concluding document of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (page 49) stated: “Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and economic and land-use change, including urbanisation. On a regional scale, mountain snow pack, glaciers and small ice caps play a crucial role in freshwater availability. Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes), where more than one-sixth of the world population currently lives.”
> www.ipcc.ch: IPCC statement on the melting of Himalayan glaciers

The IPCC is not infallible

Look for the differences...!

London, January 19 2010 - Like all human endeavours, the IPCC is not perfect. Despite the enormous efforts devoted to producing its reports with the multiple levels of peer review, some errors will sneak through. Most of these will be minor and inconsequential, but sometimes they might be more substantive. As many people are aware, there is a statement in the second volume of the IPCC (WG2), concerning the rate at which Himalayan glaciers are receding that is not correct and not properly referenced.
> www.realclimate.org: The IPCC is not infallible
> planetark.org: U.N. Panel Re-Examines Himalayan Glacier Thaw Report
> news.bbc.co.uk: UN climate body admits 'mistake' on Himalayan glaciers
> www.guardian.co.uk: IPCC officials admit mistake over melting Himalayan glaciers
> Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035 (Nov 11 2008)

Reduced Himalayan Snowfall Could Spark Water War

Srinagar, January 18 2010 - The declining snow cover and receding glaciers in the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir could trigger renewed hostilities between India and Pakistan, neighbouring states in the South Asian region that are at odds on a host of issues, experts warn.
> ipsnews.net: educed Himalayan Snowfall Could Spark Water War

Survival of Tibetan Glaciers
New York, December 14 2009 - Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, sometimes called Earth's "third pole", hold the largest ice mass outside the polar regions. These glaciers act as a water storage tower for South and East Asia, releasing melt water in warm months to the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and other river systems, providing fresh water to more than a billion people. In the dry season glacial melt provides half or more of the water in many rivers.
> www.giss.nasa.gov: Survival of Tibetan Glaciers
www.pnas.org: Black soot and the survival of Tibetan glaciers (pdf)

Himalayan glaciers melting deadline 'a mistake'
New Delfi, December 5 2009 - The UN panel on climate change warning that Himalayan glaciers could melt to a fifth of current levels by 2035 is wildly inaccurate, an academic says.
J Graham Cogley, a professor at Ontario Trent University, says he believes the UN authors got the date from an earlier report wrong by more than 300 years.
He is astonished they "misread 2350 as 2035". The authors deny the claims.
> news.bbc.co.uk: Himalayan glaciers melting deadline 'a mistake'

Many of Himalayan glaciers will be gone by the middle of this century

Global warming is melting 18,000 Himalayan glaciers — the largest concentration of glaciers outside the great polar ice sheets. If the present melt rate continues, many of these glaciers will be gone by the middle of this century, disrupting the perennial water supply to hundreds of millions of people.
To explore this growing collection of glacier images from the “roof of the world” — including a must-see video made by mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears, Founder and Project Leader of Glacier Research Imaging Project (GRIP) — go to the Asia Society’s “> On Thinner Ice” website.

Vanishing glaciers jolt smokestack China

Beijng, November 8 2009 - The speed and scale of change on the Tibetan plateau have made Chinese leaders react to something they understand — a potential threat to the future of China itself.
> www.timesonline.co.uk: Vanishing glaciers jolt smokestack China

Snows Of Kilimanjaro Shrinking Rapidly, And Likely To Be Lost

ScienceDaily November 3 2009 — The remaining ice fields atop famed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining on the mountain.
> planetark.org: Kilimanjaro's Ice May Disappear By 2033
> www.reuters.com: Snows Of Kilimanjaro Shrinking Rapidly, And Likely To Be Lost
> www.pnas.org: Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro continues unabated
> Earlier picture of Mount Klimanjaro

Kashmir's main glacier "melting at alarming speed"

Srinagar, October 13 2009 - Indian Kashmir's biggest glacier, which feeds the region's main river, is melting faster than other Himalayas glaciers, threatening the water supply of tens of thousands of people, a new report warned on Monday.
Experts say rising temperatures are rapidly shrinking Himalayan glaciers, underscoring the effects of climate change that has caused temperatures in the mountainous region to rise by about 1.1 degrees Celsius in the past 100 years.
> www.reuters.com: Kashmir's main glacier "melting at alarming speed"

The Alps: Europe’s cherished but endangered mountains
Brussels, 9 September 2009 - As the ‘water towers of Europe’, the Alps play a crucial role in sustaining the social and economic wellbeing of millions of people living in vast lowland areas. A complex and vulnerable ecosystem, they represent Europe’s central landmark.
Troublingly, a report released today by the European Environment Agency concludes that global climate change poses a grave threat to the alpine hydrological system, altering precipitation, snow-cover patterns and glaciers, with further effects downstream. Hosting most of the headwaters of the rivers Danube, Rhine, Po and Rhone, the Alps are also exposed to increasing demand for water to satisfy the needs of agriculture and the tourism sector.
> www.eea.europa.eu: Melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters">

Climate change: melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters

London, 6 September 2009 - Scientists at a London conference next week will warn of earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions as the atmosphere heats up and geology is altered. Even Britain could face being struck by tsunamis.
> www.guardian.co.uk: Melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters">

Shrinking Bylot Island glaciers tell story of climate change

(PhysOrg), August 31, 2009 - The U.S. Geological Survey has released the results of a long-term study of key glaciers in western North America, reporting this month that glacial shrinkage is rapid and accelerating and a result of climate change.
> www.physorg.com: Shrinking Bylot Island glaciers tell story of climate change

Himalayan nations to hold first climate talks

Kathmandu, August 28, 2009 - South Asian ministers will gather in Nepal next week for talks on the threat that climate change poses to the Himalayas and to the 1.3 billion people dependent on water flowing from the mountains. Experts say the Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate and with months to go before a key summit in Copenhagen, mountain nations are hoping to highlight the myriad of problems facing.
> www.terradaily.com: Himalayan nations to hold first climate talks

Swiss Seek Pope's Blessing To Stop Glacier Melting
Zuerich, August 7, 2009 - After centuries of praying for a local glacier to stop growing, Swiss villagers are now seeking an audience with Pope Benedict to get his blessing for prayers against the global warming that is causing it to recede.
> planetark.org: Swiss Seek Pope's Blessing To Stop Glacier Melting

Alaska glaciers shrinking fast: survey

Anchorage, Alaska, August 6 2009 - Three major glaciers in Alaska and Washington state have thinned and shrunk dramatically, clear signs of a warming climate, according to a study released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey.
> www.reuters.com: Alaska glaciers shrinking fast: survey
> climateprogress.org: USGS report details “recent dramatic shrinkage” in U.S. glaciers, matching global decline
> wa.water.usgs.gov: Recent rapid shrinkage of the South Cascade Glacier (video)

Swiss Glaciers Melting Faster Than Ever Before: Study

Zürich, June 23, 2009 - Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12 percent over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, a study by the Swiss university ETH showed Monday.
> planetark.org: Swiss Glaciers Melting Faster Than Ever Before: Study
> cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com: Iconic French glacier retreats as global warming hits
See also:
> www.santiagotimes.cl: Patagonian glaciers melting at unprecedented rates

Lifestyle melts away with Uganda peak snow cap

Uganda, June 15th, 2009 - In 1906, Mount Speke, one the highest peaks of Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains was covered with 217 hectares (536 acres) of ice, according to the Climate Change Unit at Uganda's ministry of water and environment. In 2006, only 18.5 hectares remained.
www.physorg.com: Lifestyle melts away with Uganda peak snow cap

World Bank warns of climate change in Andes
Lima, February 17, 2009 - Global climate change threatens the complete disappearance of the Andes' tropical glaciers within the next 20 years, putting precious water, energy and food sources at risk, according to a World Bank report presented here Tuesday.
The study says glacial retreat has already reduced by 12 percent the water supply to Peru's dry coastline, home to 60 percent of the country's population.
www.google.com: World Bank warns of climate change in Andes

Global glacier melt continues
Zürich, January 29, 2009 - Glaciers around the globe continue to melt at high rates. Tentative figures for the year 2007, of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate a further loss of average ice thickness of roughly 0.67 meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Some glaciers in the European Alps lost up to 2.5 m w.e.
The new still tentative data of more than 80 glaciers confirm the global trend of fast ice loss since 1980. Glaciers with long-term observation series (30 glaciers in 9 mountain ranges) have experienced a reduction in total thickness of more than 11 m w.e. until 2007. The average annual ice loss during 1980-1999 was roughly 0.3 m w.e. per year. Since 2000, this rate has increased to about 0.7 m w.e. per year.
www.eurekalert.org: Global glacier melt continues
www.realclimate.org: A global glacier index update

Tibetan glaciers rapidly melting
Washington, November 24, 2008 - Glaciers high in the Himalayas are dwindling faster than anyone thought, putting nearly a billion people living in South Asia in peril of losing their water supply.
www.abc.net.au: Tibetan glaciers rapidly melting

Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035
Washington, November 11, 2008 - The glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, a large number of them may disappear by 2035 because of climate change, warn Indian and foreign environmentalists and geologists.
www.enn.com: Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035
www.tribuneindia.com: Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035

Penny Ice Cap in 1979 and 2000
Washington, September 22, 2008 - Penny Ice Cap is the southernmost of Canada’s big ice caps. Located on Baffin Island, the ice cap has a maximum elevation of about 1,900 meters. Like other glaciers and ice caps in the Northern Hemisphere, the Penny has been thinning and its valley glaciers have been retreating in recent decades. A 2004 study of the Penny Ice Cap using NASA airborne lasers flown on missions in 1995 and 2000 showed that the lower elevations of the Penny Ice Cap had thinned by as much as 1 meter per year. However, scientists are uncertain how much of the retreat is because of recent climate change (global warming) and how much of it is due to declines that have been going on since the end of a climate period called the Little Ice Age.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Penny Ice Cap in 1979 and 2000

UNEP: World Glaciers Need Better Monitoring
Geneva, September 1, 2008 - Global Glaciers Changes: facts and figures The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) launched a new facts and figures report on glaciers and ice caps during a side event on 1 September 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland, during the twenty-ninth plenary session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC29).
www.climate-l.org: UNEP: World Glaciers Need Better Monitoring

Tibetan plateau melts in the face of climate change
August 5, 2008 - Climate change is affecting the Tibetan plateau, threatening regional water supplies and altering atmospheric circulation for half the planet.
The plateau is the world's third largest store of ice. But its temperature has risen by up to 0.3 degrees Celsius every ten years over the last fifty years — approximately three times the global warming rate.
www.enn.com: Tibetan plateau melts in the face of climate change

Artificial Snow Harming Alpine Environment, Researchers Warn
Vienna, April 18, 2007 - Artificial snow may help Alpine ski resorts to fight the effects of climate change, but it also creates environmental problems of its own. Is summer tourism the only thing that can save the struggling resorts?
www.spiegel.de: Artificial Snow Harming Alpine Environment, Researchers Warn

Austrian glaciers shrink the most in five years
Vienna, March 29 / April 11, 2007 - A skier stands above large insulation sheets covering parts of Rettenbach glacier in the ski resort of Soelden in 2007. Austria's glaciers retreated more than 22 metres (24 yards) on average last year, in the biggest shrinking for five years, the country's Alpine Club said Saturday.
www.physorg.com: Austrian glaciers shrink the most in five years
www.planetark.com: Melting Mountains A "Time Bomb" For Water Shortages

UNEP: Record Glacier Thinning Means No Time to Waste on Agreeing New International Climate Regime
Zürich/Nairobi, 16 March 2008 - The world's glaciers are continuing to melt away with the latest official figures showing record losses, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today.
UNEP: Meltdown in the mountains

Glacier ice loss at record levels / The countdown to climate chaos

The average mass balance of the glaciers with available long-term mass balance series around the world continues to decrease, with tentative figures indicating a further thickness reduction of 1.4 m w.e. during the hydrological year 2006. This continues the trend in accelerated ice loss during the past two and a half decades and brings the total loss since 1980 at more than 10.5 m w.e. Source and further explanation: World Glacier Monitoring Service

Zürich, (CH) March 14 2008 - The rate at which some of the world's glaciers are melting has more than doubled, data from the United Nations Environment Programme has shown.
Average glacial shrinkage has risen from 30 centimetres per year between 1980 and 1999, to 1.5 metres in 2006.
Some of the biggest losses have occurred in the Alps and Pyrenees mountain ranges in Europe.
Experts have called for "immediate action" to reverse the trend, which is seen as a key climate change indicator.
Glaciers are a vital part of the planet's system for collecting, storing and delivering the fresh water that billions of people depend on for washing, drinking, agriculture and power. Now these once indomitable monuments are disappearing. And as they retreat, glacial lakes will burst, debris and ice will fall in avalanches, rivers will flood and then dry up, and sea levels will rise even further, say the climate experts. Communities will be deprived of essential water, crops will be ruined and power stations which rely on river flows paralysed. Is this the final countdown to climate chaos?
www.enn.com: Melting glaciers will shrink grain harvests in China and India
www.guardian.co.uk: Melting glaciers start countdown to climate chaos
www.bbc.co.uk: Glaciers suffer record shrinkage
www.independent.co.uk: Glacier ice loss at record levels
World Glacier Monitoring Service
www.ngc.com: Time-Lapse Video: Retreating Glacier

Global warming causing China's glaciers to melt quickly
Beijing, December 21, 2007 - Global warming has caused some of China's glaciers -- a source for many of Asia's greatest rivers -- to have melted by more than 18 percent over the past five years, state media reported Friday.
afp.google.com: Global warming causing China's glaciers to melt quickly

As the Alps warm up, resorts feel the chill
London / Lyon, August 1 2007 - The great winter sports meltdown has begun. The first Alpine resort has shut its doors for good and a French company that runs lifts and accomodation in several mountain stations is in bankruptcy proceedings. A disastrous winter season has taken its toll on Transmontagne, which last month sought protection from its creditors in a court in Lyons.
www.timesonline.co.uk: As the Alps warm up, resorts feel the chill

Snowless in a Warming World, Ski Resort in French Alps Bids Adieu
Abondance, (France), France July 19, 2007 — Muddy slopes, slushy peaks, unused lifts -- this town in the French Alps is living out the nightmare of many a ski resort in a century scientists say is doomed to keep getting warmer.
www.enn.com: Snowless in a Warming World, Ski Resort in French Alps Bids Adieu

Melting glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau

New York, July 11, 2007 - Yanshiping is the last town on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway before entering Tibet. At an altitude of 4700 metres, its landscape in summer is marked by shaggy yaks grazing in the green alpine pastures. In winter, temperatures reach as low as -20°C. It is no surprise that people welcome a warmer climate.
www.panda.org: Melting glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau
www.planetark.com: Tianshan Glaciers Shrinking Fast

A message from the melting slopes of Everest
London, July 8, 2007 - The sons of Hillary and Tenzing speak out about climate change: "Believe us, it's a reality".
www.independent.co.uk: Live Earth: A message from the melting slopes of Everest
www.guardian.co.uk: Climate change 'is ravaging Everest'
www.news.com.au: Mt Everest climate devastation

Mt Everest climate devastation
May 31, 2007 - A NEW picture of Mount Everest have revealed what appears to be the devastating effects of climate change on one of the world's most ecologically sensitive and important regions.
One of the world's most spectacular ice formations - the towering serac forest near Mount Everest's base camp - is rapidly shrinking as a result of global warming, Greenpeace said today.
www.news.com.au: Mt Everest climate devastation
environment.guardian.co.uk: Everest ice forest melting due to global warming, says Greenpeace

China creates Tibetan snow as glaciers melt
Beijng, April 18, 2007 — China has created artificial snow for the first time in Tibet to head off possible drought, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday, months after experts warned of melting glaciers in the Himalayan region.
www.reuters.com: China creates Tibetan snow as glaciers melt

Glacier ice loss at record levels / Countdown to climate chaos

Swiss resorts tackle snow decline
Berne, 05 March 2007 - Some of Switzerland's most famous ski resorts have compiled a report on how to cope with climate change. Lower lying resorts like Wengen must diversify, the report says.
news.bbc.co.uk: Swiss resorts tackle snow decline

Glacier could be gone in five years

San Francisco, February 16, 2007 - The principal glacier of the world's biggest tropical ice cap could disappear within five years as a result of global warming, one of the world's leading glaciologists predicted yesterday.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au: Glacier could be gone in five years
www.sciencedaily.com: Peruvian Glacier May Vanish In 5 Years

Melting of glaciers 'speeds up'
Scientists predict vanishing snow

London, Januari 29 2007 - Global temperatures could rise more than currently predicted by the end of this century, according to the most authoritative study of climate change so far.
Mountain glaciers are shrinking three times faster than they were in the 1980s, scientists have announced.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Scientists predict vanishing snow
www.bloomberg.com: World Ice Retreat to Spark UN Urgency, Scientist Says
news.bbc.co.uk: Melting of glaciers 'speeds up'

High ski runs fuel habitat fears
London, January 16 2007 - Skiing has a "significant" impact on Alpine birds, scientists say An increase in demand for high altitude ski runs will have a serious impact on the number and diversity of Alpine bird species, Italian scientists warn.
news.bbc.co.uk: High ski runs fuel habitat fears

Big Melt Threatens India's Water
Ahmedabad, January 11 2007 - The massive glaciers of the Himalayas, which hold one of Earth's largest reserves of snow and ice, have dwindled by one-fifth in the past 4 decades. A team of Indian geologists and remote sensing experts published the alarming news this week--a grim warning that if the trend continues, it could jeopardize the fresh water supply of more than 500 million people in India.
sciencenow.sciencemag.org: Big Melt Threatens India's Water

The glaciers on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro are melting, but nobody really knows why. Researchers have turned the peak into an extreme laboratory to find the answer. But it's a race against time -- the information archived in the ice must be unlocked before it melts. Click on the picture for bigger size.
> www.spiegel.de: Why is Mount Kilimanjaro melting? (Feb 20 2006)
> www.sciencedaily.com: Snows Of Kilimanjaro Disappearing, Glacial Ice Loss Increasing (Feb 14 2006)

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