Global warming and its affects on

Glaciers
By
Kanpakamon Deasy
Minjung, Kim
Glaciers and climate change

Glacial ice can range in age from several hundred to several hundreds of
thousands years, making it valuable for climate research. To see a long-
term climate record, scientists can drill and extract ice
cores from glaciers and ice sheets. Ice cores have been taken from around
the world, including Peru, Canada, Greenland, Antarctica, Europe, and
Asia. These cores are continuous records providing scientists with year-by-
year information about past climate. Scientists analyze various components
of cores, particularly trapped air bubbles, which reveal past atmospheric
composition, temperature variations, and types of vegetation. Glaciers
preserve bits of atmosphere from thousands of years ago in these tiny air
bubbles, or, deeper within the core, trapped within the ice itself. This is one
way scientists know that there have been several Ice Ages. Past eras can be
reconstructed, showing how and why climate changed, and how it might
change in the future.

Climate change: How do we know?

Himalaya Mountains
These glaciers in the Himalaya Mountains of Bhutan have been receding over the
past few decades, and lakes have formed on the surfaces and near the termini of
many of the glaciers. Credit: Advanced Space born Thermal Emission and
Reflection Radiometer instrument aboard NASAs Terra satellite. Image provided
by Jeffrey Kargel, USGS/NASA JPL/AGU, through the NASA Earth Observatory.
Gangotri
This false-color satellite image shows the Gangotri Glacier, situated in the
Uttarkashi District of Garhwal Himalaya. Currently 30.2 km long and between 0.5
and 2.5 km wide, Gangotri glacier is one of the largest in the Himalaya. Gangotri
has been receding since 1780, although studies show its retreat quickened after
1971. Note that the blue contour lines drawn here to show the recession of the
glacier's terminus over time are approximate. Over the last 25 years, Gangotri
glacier has retreated more than 850 m with a recession of 76 m from 1996 to 1999
alone. Credit: NASA image by Jesse Allen
Causes
Sea-Level Rise
Current rates of sea-level rise are expected to increase as a result both of
thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of most mountain glaciers and
partial melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice caps. Consequences
include loss of coastal wetlands and barrier islands, and a greater risk of
flooding in coastal communities. Low-lying areas, such as the coastal
region along the Gulf of Mexico and estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay, are
especially vulnerable.

How Climate Change Is Affecting
Mount Everest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekcZVER
p8c
New research shows the glaciers of Mount Everest have shrunk by approximately
13% over the last fifty years, and global warming may be to blame. A study by
researchers from the University of Milan, shows that the small glaciers in the
Sagarmatha National Park surrounding Mount Everest have been decreasing by 43
percent.

sources
http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/glaciers/question
s/climate.html
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/fcons/fc
ons4.asp
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/