Retreating Glaciers
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Not only is sea ice decreasing, but ice on land is decreasing as well
due to warmer atmospheric temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns.
Glaciers are retreating everywhere in the world (with few exceptions)
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These graphs show the decrease in the size of glaciers (cumulative
mass balance) in the Tropical Andes (below) and the European Alpine
(right) in recent years.
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Wagnon & Vincent, 2003 |
Wagnon & Vincent, 2003
The red and blue boxes on the Andean plot indicate El Niño
and La Niña years, respectively. The slowing in ablation
(melt) rate of Andean glaciers during El Niño probably reflects
increased snowfall, whereas increased ablation during La Niña
reflects decreased snowfall. These short term rate changes show
that the glaciers can respond quickly to changes in precipitation. |
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Photographer Gary
Braasch holding a 1932 photo of Broggi glacier near Huascaran
in the Peruvian Andes, while rephotographing this receding glacier
in 1999. Glaciers everywhere in the world (with a very few exceptions)
have been shrinking throughout the 20th century, a prime signal
of rapid global warming. Loss of tropical glaciers is particularly
rapid. This glacier, previously photographed by the Austrian Hans
Kinzl, receded about one kilometer in 67 years (from World
View of Global Warming- Glaciers by Gary Braasch). |
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Other glaciers are retreating as well. Mt. Kilamanjaro in Africa was reported
to be losing its snow cap quite rapidly, with only one or two decades
until total loss. To see more pictures of glaciers and changing ice conditions,
take a look at Gary Braasch's Glacier
webpage from his World
View of Global Warming website. |
