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World's Glaciers Continue to Melt at Historic Rates
Latest figures show the world's glaciers are continuing to melt so fast that many will disappear by the middle of this century
Glaciers across the globe are continuing to melt so fast that many will disappear by the middle of this century, the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) said today.
This 2008 picture shows a view of the Lirung Glacier in the Lantang Valley, northwest of Kathmandu. (AFP/File/Sam Taylor) The announcement of the latest annual results from monitoring in nine mountain ranges on four continents comes as doubts have been cast on how much climate scientists have exaggerated the problem of glacier melt, which is seen as a leading indicator of how much the planet is heating up.
Last week the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) apologised for "a paragraph" in its four-volume 2007 report which warned there was a "very high" risk that the Himalayan glaciers, on which at least half a billion of the world's poorest people depend for water, would disappear by 2035.
However the director of the WGMS, Professor Wilfried Haeberli, said the latest global results indicated most glaciers were continuing to melt at historically high rates.
"The melting goes on," said Haeberli. "It's less extreme than in years [immediately before] but what's really important is the trend of 10 years or so, and that shows an unbroken acceleration in melting."
Haeberli also repeated his warning that many glaciers are set to disappear in the next few decades, due to an expected continuation in the rise of global average temperatures. The most vulnerable glaciers were those in lower mountain ranges like the Alps and the Pyrenees in Europe, in Africa, parts of the Andes in South and Central America, and the Rockies in North America, said Haeberli.
"We are on the path of the highest scenario [of global warming] in reality, but if you take a medium scenario in the Alps about 70% will be gone by the middle of the century, and mountain ranges like the Pyrenees may be completely ice-free."
Glaciers at much higher altitudes - particularly in the Himalayas and Alaska, where it was colder and global warming could increase snowfall - could grow in the short term and were likely to last "centuries", said Haeberli. "But even for the large glaciers, for a realistic [mid-range warming] scenario, it's centuries, not millennia, and not many centuries," he added.
The WGMS records data for nearly 100 of the world's approximately 160,000 glaciers, including 30 "reference" glaciers, with data going back to at least 1980. Scientists also use methods from geology to photos and travel journals and other data to estimate glacier sizes further back in history.
The latest preliminary figures for 2007-08 show the average reduction in thickness across all the 96 glaciers was nearly half a metre, and since 1980 they have collectively lost an average of 13m thickness. During that year 30 of the 96 glaciers gained in mass.
Two years ago the WGMS preliminary figures revealed the biggest melt-rate in one year on record. The figure was later revised so it was slightly less "catastrophic" than the other extreme year in 2002-03, said Haeberli.
The IPCC uses WGMS data throughout its report, but the offending statement regarding 2035 was blamed on a quote from a scientist given to a journalist, and never presented in a peer-reviewed journal.
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17 Comments so far
Show All"We are on the path of the highest scenario [of global warming] in reality, but if you take a medium scenario in the Alps about 70% will be gone by the middle of the century, and mountain ranges like the Pyrenees may be completely ice-free."
this quote is part of the reason there contiues to be "confusion" in the press. Jack-ass scientists.
its like jumping out of a plane and saying "We don't have a parachute on, but if we did we wouldn't break our leg when we hit the ground."
Its completely irrelevant to reality.
on the higest path (the one we are really on) the alps will be ice free at the end of the next decade. thats all he needed to say.
GottaGetOffTheGrid, the problem with making a categorical statement like what you suggest is that, any minor deviation will then have to be defended - as there are vested interests ready to pounce on these scientists at the slightest misstep. The denial industry has been extremely successful, forcing the scientists to tread extra carefully - often reporting only conservative estimates. I wouldn't want to be in their position. The stupidity of humanity is unbelievable. Not finding the WMDs in Iraq is no big deal, whereas making an error in a paragraph in an 800-page report (which is based on the input provided by so many people all around the world) is making the IPCC Chairman going around explaining, defending and answering clueless morons who are jumping up and down about some 'conspiracy' by the scientists.
I absolutely agree with you. Still, this guy needs some PR/talking-to-media training.
The denial industry IS a PR industry; they are professionals at talking to the media. The IPCC needs to either hire pros to speak for them or get in the game and learn to stay on point. They are too used to talking to their learned fellows, not ideologues.
>>>Last week the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) apologised for "a paragraph" in its four-volume 2007 report which warned there was a "very high" risk that the Himalayan glaciers, on which at least half a billion of the world's poorest people depend for water, would disappear by 2035.
Rajendra Pachauri, the Chairman of IPCC is being targeted once again, and there are calls for his resignation for this lapse - which is touted as proof that the scientists have been exaggerating the threat. The funny thing - actually the scary thing - is that some people in his own home country, India, are targeting him. Reading the comments on at least one major newspaper (The Indian Express), I am amazed at the number of "climate experts" that seem to have sprung up all of a sudden, with all kinds of accusations. The Indian minister for environment even talked about an Indian group of experts to assess the threat of climate change - a direct slap in the face for IPCC, and a totally moronic, possibly sinister idea. Sounds so much like a "made in Canada" solution by Stephen Harper. All the more reason why the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (eminently achievable - since the targets were modest) should have been kept by the developed countries.
"I am amazed at the number of "climate experts" that seem to have sprung up all of a sudden, with all kinds of accusations."
And you?
(So what about all those glaciers that are growing? http://news.discovery.com/earth/himalayas-glaciers-shrink.html)
deleted by comment author.
Its good news for now, but there aren't super high altitude glaciers like those on K2 and Everest in every mountain range, and warming will probably eventually catch up with Mt. Shasta.
Lets see. . .what about 'the glaciers that are growing?' . . . how could that be?
Well:
1) Though he can't say for certain, the winds appear to be carrying more moisture from the warming Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea eastward.
2) If that's true, some of the moisture would fall into the region around the Caspian Sea. But as the winds rise into Karakoram's frigid heights, any remaining water would come down as snow, feeding the glaciers.
3) "We will see regional patterns like this developing as climate change alters precipitation," said Andrew Fountain of Portland State University in Oregon.
There you have it vspolis! Thanks for pointing us to an article that illuminates the fact that CLIMATE CHANGE alters CLIMATE PATTERNS and that GLOBAL WARMING will put more moisture in the air!
But the last line of the article you've used to make this point is a bit dire:
ARTICLE CONCLUSSION: 'But it's not likely to last. "As temperatures continue increasing, they will overtake additional mass provided by snow," Fountain said. "The freezing level will keep rising, and glaciers will melt."'
ARTICLE CONCLUSSION: 'But it's not likely to last. "As temperatures continue increasing, they will overtake additional mass provided by snow," Fountain said. "The freezing level will keep rising, and glaciers will melt."'
The point, Einstein, is that the science is FAR from settled, although the climate alarmists would have you believe it is, and we're beyond hope, doomed, UNLESS we impose a global tax and make the elites even richer and restrict your life in ways undreamt of in a free society. I was a true believer like you once, but mine eyes have seen the light, and it's the sun!
Warming happens! And so does cooling! Global temperatures appear to be dropping don't they, and it's such a "travesty" that they can't explain it. Research proves CO2 increase FOLLOWS warming by approximately a millenium (~800-1000), so if my math is correct that means that around the time of the Crusades things maybe were heating up in more ways than one. However, Antarctic sea-ice this year reached its highest level since satellite records began in 1979. Polar bear numbers are also at record levels. So...
Alarmists now like to label it "climate change." Yes that's spot on, climates DO change. Brilliant. Listen, the SUN drives most all climate change, and a few decades of suspicious data does not a fact make. AGW is not bringing an end to civilization. If it exists at all, AGW is probably an insignificant factor. CO2 levels ebb and flow, and life goes on. Should we be concerned about pollution, and should we be having a healthy debate about how to deal with climate issues? Sure! But climate science is in its infancy. Should we impose world gov't and draconian measures on people based on dubious claims? Hell no.
Ever heard of Maurice Strong?
Yep, solar flux is the key to energy input to the climate. Now, here's the problem; going back to Arrhenius CO2 doesn't allow the infall to be reradiated. Again, Antarctic sea ice surface area is growing, but ice volume is shrinking. Obviously, the ratio of surface to volume determines the rate of melt. "CO2 levels ebb and flow and life goes on." Professor Tripati at UCLA pretty decisively showed that Carbon Dioxide levels are at the highest point in 15 million years. I don't think we had those sort of temperatures 800-1000 years ago. In fact, for the millenium before 1850, CO2 levels stayed pretty steady at 280 ppm in 150 years it's gone up to 387. Something is kicking all that Carbon Dioxide into the air. Maybe, just maybe, it's because we're burning millions of years of fixed Carbon? I don't expect for you to admit this, but we're doing a real good job of building a planetary greenhouse.
Truth, as usual, is an orphan.
Jeevee
RIGHT,RICG!
“The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report contains a mistake. This is not the first inaccuracy to be found in the AR4 - there have been several papers demonstrating where IPCC predictions have underestimated the climate response to CO2 emissions. However, this time the climate response has been overestimated. Specifically, the IPCC AR4 predicted the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 which is decidedly not the case. What's the significance of this error? To determine this, let's look at how it happened and the broader context.”
“The IPCC error on the 2035 prediction was unfortunate and it's important that such mistakes are avoided in future publications through more rigorous review. But the central message of the Synthesis Report, the concluding document of the IPCC AR4, is confirmed by the peer reviewed literature. The Himalayan glaciers are of vital importance to half a billion people. Most of this crucial resource is disappearing at an accelerating rate.”
The above first and last paragraphs of an article, “The IPCC's 2035 prediction about Himalayan glaciers”, posted by John Cook on his Skeptical Science website.
To access this post, go to: http://www.skepticalscience.com/IPCC-2035-prediction-Himalayan-glaciers.html
HAARP
HAARP.net - The Military's Pandora's Box by Dr. Nick Begich and ...
In it he describes the use of weather manipulation, climate modification, ...
www.haarp.net/
The HAARP connection to catastrophic 'weather' events including the heating of the earth's ionosphere needs to be examined by persons from as many points of view and expertise as possible. Nikola Tesla tried to bring 'free' electricity to the world and the 'creep machine' shut him down. They have used his ideas to create a WMD that can manifest earthquakes(Haiti), tsunami's(Sumatra), and hurricanes(Katrina-New Orleans). Also examine the 'Nobel Torsion'anomoly on December 9, 2009 which appeared just north east of Tromso, Norway(not far from the HAARP EISCAT Ramfjordmoen facility)a day before Obama's 'war is peace' Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo. Russia first denied testing a missile that day, and only later said that there was a failed test that caused this 'Tesla-like' torsion event. Gee, I wonder what it would have looked like if the missile test had been a success. Something is happening and people need to wake up to it. Knowledge is power. The historic and rapid rate of melting glaciers may very well fit into this 'creep machine' agenda as well.
“MEMO TO MEDIA: Please start doing some damn journalism — like placing a simple phone call to a primary source. A great many “newspapers” like the Daily Mail are no more reliable than the websites of the anti-science disinformers, like the thoroughly discredited ClimateDepot of Marc Morano.
“In an exclusive interview — ‘exclusive’ in the sense that many of the people smearing Dr. Murari Lal haven’t bothered to ask him whether the original story was accurate — Dr. Lal asserts that the ‘most vilest allegations’ in the Daily Mail story are utterly false.
Source: “EXCLUSIVE: UN scientist refutes Daily Mail claim he said Himalayan glacier error was politically motivated”’ Climate Progress, Jan 25, 2010
To access the entire article, go to:
http://climateprogress.org/2010/01/25/un-scientist-refutes-daily-mail-claim-himalayan-glacier-2035-ipcc-mistake-not-politically-motivated/
In other news, it's the end of January and Norway's Spitsbergen Islands haven't frozen in. There's still many miles of open water to the north of Spitzbergen. This is climatologically really strange. The whole sea south from Spitsbergen to the Russian port of Archangel is all unfrozen.
Also at the end of January, the sea ice all around Antarctica is pretty much gone and the nearby ocean is warming up.
For the latest:
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/