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The World's Glaciers


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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Tibetan Headwaters of the Yangtze Under Threat

The glaciers which feed the “Yangtze River Source Region” (YRSR) are in the “most sensitive area to global warming” atop the Tibetan Plateau, according to a study led by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research. Nearly a quarter of the glacier coverage throughout the headwater region melted from 1970 through the late 2000s, as the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research found.

http://glacierhub.org/2016/07/12/tibetan-headwaters-of-the-yangtze-under-threat/

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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

New Study Offers Window into Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

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A recent geological study has shed some light on the cause of a major, yet elusive destructive natural hazard triggered by failed natural dams holding back glacial lakes. The findings show how previously unrecognized factors like thinning glacier ice and moisture levels in the ground surrounding a lake can determine the size and frequency of Glacier Lake Outburst Floods, or GLOFs.

http://glacierhub.org/2016/08/11/understanding-glacial-lake-outburst-floods/

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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Rapid glacial retreat on the Kamchatka Peninsula during the early 21st century

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Abstract. Monitoring glacier fluctuations provides insights into changing glacial environments and recent climate change. The availability of satellite imagery offers the opportunity to view these changes for remote and inaccessible regions. Gaining an understanding of the ongoing changes in such regions is vital if a complete picture of glacial fluctuations globally is to be established. Here, satellite imagery (Landsat 7, 8 and ASTER) is used to conduct a multi-annual remote sensing survey of glacier fluctuations on the Kamchatka Peninsula (eastern Russia) over the 2000–2014 period. Glacier margins were digitised manually and reveal that, in 2000, the peninsula was occupied by 673 glaciers, with a total glacier surface area of 775.7 ± 27.9 km2. By 2014, the number of glaciers had increased to 738 (reflecting the fragmentation of larger glaciers), but their surface area had decreased to 592.9 ± 20.4 km2. This represents a  ∼  24 % decline in total glacier surface area between 2000 and 2014 and a notable acceleration in the rate of area loss since the late 20th century. Analysis of possible controls indicates that these glacier fluctuations were likely governed by variations in climate (particularly rising summer temperatures), though the response of individual glaciers was modulated by other (non-climatic) factors, principally glacier size, local shading and debris cover.

http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1809/2016/  Open Access

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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Canadian glaciers now major contributor to sea level change, UCI study shows

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 14, 2017 -- Ice loss from Canada's Arctic glaciers has transformed them into a major contributor to sea level change, new research by University of California, Irvine glaciologists has found.

From 2005 to 2015, surface melt off ice caps and glaciers of the Queen Elizabeth Islands grew by an astonishing 900 percent, from an average of three gigatons to 30 gigatons per year, according to results published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

"In the past decade, as air temperatures have warmed, surface melt has increased dramatically," said lead author Romain Millan, an Earth system science doctoral student.

The team found that in the past decade, overall ice mass declined markedly, turning the region into a major contributor to sea level change. Canada holds 25 percent of all Arctic ice, second only to Greenland.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/uoc--cgn021417.php

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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Then and now: How glaciers around the world are melting

Savor the Cryosphere

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This article provides concise documentation of the ongoing retreat of glaciers, along with the implications that the ice loss presents, as well as suggestions for geoscience educators to better convey this story to both students and citizens. We present the retreat of glaciers—the loss of ice—as emblematic of the recent, rapid contraction of the cryosphere. Satellites are useful for assessing the loss of ice across regions with the passage of time. Ground-based glaciology, particularly through the study of ice cores, can record the history of environmental conditions present during the existence of a glacier. Repeat photography vividly displays the rapid retreat of glaciers that is characteristic across the planet. This loss of ice has implications to rising sea level, greater susceptibility to dryness in places where people rely upon rivers delivering melt water resources, and to the destruction of natural environmental archives that were held within the ice. Warming of the atmosphere due to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases released by the combustion of fossil fuels is causing this retreat. We highlight multimedia productions that are useful for teaching this story effectively. As geoscience educators, we attempt to present the best scholarship as accurately and eloquently as we can, to address the core challenge of conveying the magnitude of anthropogenic impacts, while also encouraging optimistic determination on the part of students, coupled to an increasingly informed citizenry. We assert that understanding human perturbation of nature, then choosing to engage in thoughtful science-based decision-making, is a wise choice. This topic comprised “Savor the Cryosphere,” a Pardee Keynote Symposium at the 2015 Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, for which the GSA recorded supporting interviews and a webinar.

http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/science/G293A/article.htm

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  • 4 weeks later...
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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Gurudongmar Glacier Retreat and Teetsa River Hydropower, Sikkim

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Teesta Urja Limited is this month finishing the 1200 MW Teesta Stage III hydro power project on. The project is a run of the river scheme in the North Sikkim district. The dam is at the Chugthang Village just below the confluence of the Lachen River and Lachung River and the power house is 15 km downstream at Singhik. The project utilizes the fall of head in the River course, of about 800 meters between these two villages.  This project is a part of overall development of Teesta basin being undertaken by Sikkim Government. The project is run of the river designed to generate 5,214 Million kWh (units) annually in 90 per cent dependable year, as per the information provided. This project adds to the existing hydropower on the Teesta River, such as the  510 MW Teetsa V, also highly dependent on glacier runoff.  The area of lake “B” in the Gurudongmar Cho Complex has increased nearly 4 times between 1965 and 1989. The significant increase in the areas of lakes “B” and adjacent “C” is a clear indicator of the glacier retreat/melt. Between 1989 and 2010, Gurudongmar Cho “B” has grown by one-sixth of its size in 1989 (Kumar and Prabhu, 2012). An inventory of Sikkim glacier lakes shows the existence of 320 glacial lakes,  85 are new ones in the study area compared to 2003 inventory, due to the ongoing retreat (Govindha Raj et al, 2012). 

http://blogs.agu.org/fromaglaciersperspective/2017/05/02/gurudongmar-glacier-retreat-teetsa-river-hydropower-sikkim/

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  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Saying goodbye to glaciers

Summary

Global glacier volume is shrinking. This loss of Earth's land ice is of international concern. Rising seas, to which melting ice is a key contributor, are expected to displace millions of people within the lifetime of many of today's children. But the problems of glacier loss do not stop at sea level rise; glaciers are also crucial water sources, integral parts of Earth's air and water circulation systems, nutrient and shelter suppliers for flora and fauna, and unique landscapes for contemplation or exploration.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6338/580.full

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