Decline Of Polar Glaciers

When President Taft created Glacier National Park in 1910, it had about 150 glaciers. Since then, the number has decreased to less than 30, and those remaining have shrunk by two-thirds. Dr. Daniel Fagre (2015) predicts that within the next 30 years most if not all of the park's glaciers

Along with the deep seas, there are signs of rising sea levels. This is being contributed to the melting of Glaciers. According to National Geographic’s “The famed snows of Kilimanjaro have melted more than 80 percent since 1912. Glaciers in the Garhwal Himalaya in India are retreating so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could virtually disappear

When speaking of this topic there are two basic types of climate change, I feel that global warming is taking place due to the human beings influence of the earth. When I say influence I mean the use of fossil fuels, aerosols and other hazardous devices that humans have derived for comforts. These chemicals that are being used have and continuously harmed the environment, not just with global warming, but the pollution of our natural resources Now we the human race is suffering the effects of global warming that is causing the melting of ice glaciers. Glaciers that have been in existences for hundreds and are now subject to the greenhouse effect. The chemicals used for our everyday lives and the pollution caused from such uses have not only directly impacted the earth’s environment, it has caused the melting of ice glaciers that are hundreds years old or more. In my opinion, glaciers that have been on this earth for that long do no simply melt due to the cycle of the earth’s natural weather patterns. There are multiple facts to support my opinion, but in this case I will only reveal the three that I think are the most substantial to support my point. First, “carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing” (Mulvaney 2013). This aspect is undisputable in the science community considering that the levels have increased dramatically even over the past decade. Second, the “Arctic Sea ice is in a Death Spiral” (Mulvaney 2013). The ice in the Arctic Sea, and many other parts of the world, is vanishing at an alarming rate.

At the present rate of global warming most of the frozen portions of the Arctic may disappear by the end of this century.

Glacier retreat will greatly affect polar and aquatic ecosystems and animals. Most arctic life revolves around the sea and presence of sea ice. Without the presence of ice, most ecosystems will be recreated. Polar bears are one species in great danger. Polar bears use sea ice as a birthing and hunting ground, and also use it to travel from one place to another. As glaciers start to disappear, the mother polar bear has less access to food; therefore, the chance of survival for her and her young is very slim. The polar bears chance of reproduction becomes less as the glaciers retreat. As the top of the food chain, their decline will cause negative effects for each level below them (Review Diagram G). The only way for polar bears to survive, is by

For many years now, scientists have believed that our climate is changing. This climate change has caused water currents up north, near Antarctica to shift leading to warm waters taking the place of the usual cold arctic waters. Warm water melts the glaciers and causes the top of the glaciers to float off into the sea, allowing the warm water to melt even more glaciers. The extra glacier melting into our sea has caused the sea levels to raise and the

The rate of retreat and the rate of thinning in all seasons considerably surpassed the forecasts of most models (Wadhams, 2012). According to Barber et al. (2009) investigation of thermodynamic oceanic contributions to sea-ice thickness specifies that longer summer melt season, a decrease in multi-year and ridged ice, and warmer Atlantic water account for continued thinning of the Arctic Ocean sea ice. “Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been in retreat, the annual-averaged rate speeded up to 10.7% per decade from 1996 onwards” (Wadhams, 2012). According to Bring and Georgia 2013, new model predictions, the summer sea ice disappearance within 20–30 years. At the same time, submarine sonar measurements have revealed that the ice has been thinning much more rapidly. (Wadhams,

Farge has been tracking glaciers in Glacier National Park for 25 years. The degrading ice fields are measured and photographed often. A once famous Boulder Glacier has been left to slush, with the same still happening to many Glaciers. In the park 50 glaciers existed in the mid nineteen fifties, now only 25 are left. In 1977 Gore made a speech on Grinnell Glacier about climate change. With the once 15-20 foot drop they were worried about falling ice. Today, the drop isn’t even to your kneecap. Cloud Glacier Peak is predicted to die in 2035. The decline has led to a loss of homes for many species. Animals that live near glacier edges enjoyed the conditioned temperatures, are now losing that. With the loss of these Glacier sea levels are rising

Mendenhall Glacier is the most recent environmental victim of a warmer planet. First measured in 1911, the glacier has receded by more than 2900 meters (Braasch, G. 2011). The marvelous thing about glaciers is that they can regenerate their mass through snowfall, but they can lose their mass due to sublimation, water evaporating from the ice, and melting. Sadly, this isn’t the case anymore as the summers out heat whatever the glaciers had tried to regenerate during the winters. Since 1980, glaciers on average have melted 17 meters of water (“NOAA Climate.gov”. 2017). When glaciers melt, the resulting water adds to overall volume of the ocean. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the global average of rising sea levels has been 3.4 millimeters a year since 1993 (“NOAA Climate.gov”. 2017). Before 1993, the average rise of sea level a year was only at

Its scary to see the before and after photographs of some of these glaciers. Some of these glaciers have completely melted. If these glaciers continue to melt we will have serious freshwater shortages in the future, being that most of our freshwater is in glaciers. Our future generations will have a very hard task to deal with. This is not counting the fact that when these glaciers melt all that water goes into the sea causing the sea level to rise. This in return will cause flooding and destruction of entire communities around the globe. This is a serious problem which most of us are accepting like a boiling

Solar Effects on Glacial Mass Balance Glaciers serve as an important indicator to the changes occurring on Earth. Global warming and climate change are definitely observable changes. For more than a century, Earth’s temperature has been increasing dramatically, thus contributing to the melting of Earth’s glaciers. Melting is observed in the ice sheets of Antarctica, Greenland and non-polar glaciers found around the world (Nat Geo). A small amount of ice is stored in non-polar glaciers in comparison to ice sheets. However non-polar glaciers have had a significant effect on sea-level rise. Non-polar glaciers have higher mass-balance sensitivity than the large ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. It is estimated about half of sea-level rise is attributable to the shrinkage of non-polar glaciers, according to glacier mass-balance data (Fujita). Some non-climatic factors that affect mass balances include oceanic circulation, sliding rates due to basal water supply and stability of ice shelves. Climatic factors include precipitation, temperature and sunlight. Recently, the spotlight has been placed on human impacts, particularly the

Air temperatures increased by ~2.5°C from 1950-2000.T he famed snows of Kilimanjaro have melted more than 80 percent since 1912. Glaciers in Nepal and India are retreating so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could virtually disappear by 2035. Arctic sea ice has thinned significantly over the past half century, and its extent has declined by about 10 percent in the past 30 years. NASA's repeated laser altimeter readings show the edges of Greenland's ice sheet

A glacier is a balancing act between snow buildup and loss. As the ice moves down the slope, it passes a point where snowfall no longer accumulates, and it begins to waste. Over time the glacier begins to end; either at some point on land where the mass of ice cannot move forward any further, or into the water as a tidewater glacier. These glaciers generally lose a lot of their mass by calving; chunks breaking off in the water. Although a small portion of the total surface ice, glaciers hold a significant amount of water, and are particularly fragile with short term climate changes when compared to ice sheets. Ice sheets are large, continuous heat-sinks that should take a while to feel any impact from rising annual temperatures – however, ice sheets have their own potential instabilities. Glaciers make up a fraction of the total ice mass and it is divided up into a multitude of glaciers, so is going to react to changing temperatures on a shorter time frame than the ice sheets. What’s more, up to about 0.4 meters sea level equivalent of water might be entering the oceans sooner than later, although the inventory of worldwide glaciers is limited so the exact amount of ice is not known. A change in the seasonal flux of water into the local environments is going to be felt by a good number of

Glaciers, Ice and Global Warming Glaciers are one of the most fundamental phenomenon on the planet, and much of their purpose and impact on earth has been well documented and published. Ice sheets, Ice Caps and Glaciers trap nearly 90% of the world's fresh water, and are replenished by snowfall each year. Their existence on this planet dates back 650,000,000 years and yet they are always moving, always shifting and always melting. Before, human existence and even during the brief era of humans, ice dominated all of the earth's landmass and have regulated, created and altered many of the landscapes around the world.

In the article “glaciers will most defiantly disappear by the middle of century and add to rising sea levels, expert warns, the issues with climate change that it doesn’t affect one thing it causes risk of sudden avalanches of rocks and soil released from the ice, and the major affect that it will make sea levels rise by the effects of glaciers melting” (Jowit, 2009). According, to Juliette Jowit “man- made emissions, are the leading cause for glaciers melting, sea