Glaciers and Global Warming



Perhaps the best sign that global warming is upon us are the melting of most of the world’s glaciers.  Glaciers are large moving masses of ice.  They are our souvenirs from the last ice age.  Glaciers are the earth’s largest reservoirs for fresh water and the threat of global warming has triggered a phenomenon called glacial retreat.

Scientists site the increase of greenhouse gasses as the main cause of glacial retreat.  Studies show that glaciers all over the world have shown significant shrinkages over the years mainly due to the rapid rise of the earth’s temperatures.  Mountain ranges in the Andes, Himalayas, Alps, Rocky Mountains and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania have shown the most drastic glacial loss.

One of the first effects of glacial shrinkage is the loss of water supplies.  Aside from this water levels will continue to rise which will mean a lot of danger and trouble for people living near the coast or those below sea level.

The key to making sure a glacier does not retreat is mass balance.  This means that a glacier has to be able to renew itself as fast as it melts.  Climate change has greatly varied the temperature and amount of snow fall the earth experiences which in turn contributes to glacial loss.

Aside from threatening potential water supplies used for drinking, irrigating crops, supplying dams and other fresh water reservoirs around the globe, glacial loss will also impact the ecological diversity in various regions.  Plants and animals dependent on glacial fed streams and lakes are potentially threatened.  For example, some species of salmon need cold water in order to reproduce.  Reduced glacial flows to the lakes and streams where these fishes breed will have a drastic impact on human food consumption too.  Huge numbers Polar bears have been dying from drowning as a result of glacial shrinkage.  These animals have had to swim greater distances in order to hunt for food and often drown because glaciers are becoming few and far in between.

Ski resorts in Germany have resulted to covering parts of their ski slopes with plastic in order to stave off melting.  While this solution may be plausible at some stage, it is neither economical nor practical.  Covering ski-slopes in plastic is a one sided and unrealistic way of solving the problem.

Global warming has affected our glaciers which in turn impact our ocean which also affects our weather systems and has brought forth climate change.  The evidence is staring us right in the face.  Ice melts when it is heated.  This is a fact!

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