The projected disappearance of small glaciers* worldwide threatens to eliminate the water supply for numerous towns in valleys, such as the Ecuadorian capital Quito, fed by the rivers that flow down from the surrounding mountains. But retreating ice is also a threat to freshwater fauna. According to a study published in Nature Climate Change, the local and regional diversity of mountain aquatic fauna will be reduced considerably if predictions are realised. Until now, the impact of global thawing on biodiversity in watercourses had never been calculated in detail.
Tag Archives: glaciers
Himalayan glaciers not melting as fast as predicted
Several hundreds of millions of people in Southeast Asia depend, to varying degrees, on the freshwater reservoirs of the Himalayan glaciers. Consequently, it is important to detect the potential impact of climate changes on the Himalayan glaciers at an early stage. Together with international researchers, glaciologists from the University of Zurich now reveal that the glaciers in the Himalayas are declining less rapidly than was previously thought. However, the scientists see major hazard potential from outbursts of glacial lakes.
What Himalayan glaciers really do: melting – for last 40 years
Do you remember that flawed Himalayan glacier melting prediction? Here’s what is truly going on in the world’s highest mountain range – and yes, these figures are science-derived.
Glacier formation proves two-sided
Conventional reading suggests glaciers and ice sheets are formed top-down, by the cumulative compaction of snowflakes. New research published in Science today shows there is a bottom-up component too – at least for the East Antarctic ice sheet.
Tibetan dust could lower Himalayan glacier albedo
Changing wind patterns due to current climate changes sweep up more dust from the Tibetan Plateau, lake sediment measurements show. Jessica Conroy, a graduate student in paleoclimatology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, presented a dust record dating back … Continue reading