Yet More Evidence

I have just read an article that links very nicely with a previous post regarding some of the problems with future predictions. The article used Alaska and stated that the future of glacial measurement was by using airborne laser altimetry to map the movement of glaciers over time (Arendt et al., 2002). The article by Chen et al. (2006) doesn’t use this airborne laser altimetry but instead uses satellite gravity measurements as an indication of the change in mass of the glacier.

Both studies looked at glacial melt in the Alaskan region of the world. Chen et al. (2006) uses results taken from 2001-2005 where as Arendt et al., (2002) uses data from the mid 90’s until 2000-2001. Slightly different periods of time but both of the experiments found very similar results. Chen et al (2006) found that observed glacial melting is -101+/-22km³/year a very similar result to Arendt et al’s (2002); who found that glacial melt was -95+/-35km³. The fact that both techniques found similar results highlights the rapid retreat that has been taking place over the last 2 decades. 100km³ is a large area of land and this melt water will no doubt be having a significant impact on sea level rise. The study by Chen et al (2006) shows the potential use of satellites in the future of the discipline. Unfortunately there is still much that needs developing and there are many error sources in the study, details of which are outlined in the study.

The graph below shows the mass balance changes around the world, with the data taken using the satellite gravity measurements. Taken from Chen et al. (2006).

My View

This short post highlights the fact that it is not just one technique that has found that such large amounts of glacial ice on the Alskan region of the world are dissapearing. Surely with so many studies concluding the same results the world will conlude on how to combat then ice melt and global sea level rise. 

Reaction to public opinion

Clearly the level of understanding of glacial retreat is varied but I was impressed with the majority of responses. One thing that really stood out for me was the gentleman who was of the view that anthropogenic global warming was a load of rubbish. I guess it may well be my sheltered lifestyle but to hear someone say this was a surprise, he was clearly reasonably informed on the subject citing sunspots as the reason for the current warming trend we are experiencing. Clearly there are still skeptics out there and it is these people that must be persuaded of the problems that we are likely to encounter because of anthropogenic global warming.

As I said, all of the responses impressed me, I felt that the majority of people were well informed on the subject and had knowledge of global warming, the implications of it and possible combative techniques that could be implemented. One of the implications mentioned was quite extreme ‘civil war’, whilst it may sound ridiculous to the uninformed mind perhaps it is not as far fetched as it initially sounds. Take a country that relies heavily on glacial melt water to keep it well supplied with water throughout the year, not just supply it with water but also supply it with electricity through hydropower. If someone were to simply press the off switch I can imagine a lot of people would have a lot of comments to make. Could this turn in to a war of some kind, quite possibly if one country uses all of the water resources upstream of another country then I would certainly imagine arguments taking place. Whether war will break out; we will have to wait and see.

I hope that the video gives people a useful insight in to what members of the public think of the subject.

The Public's Opinion

Limits To Adaptation

Came across an article online that detailed how humans are going to need to adapt because of glacial retreat (Orlove, 2009). Whilst many articles I have read stop at how we need to adapt this article went on to detail the problems with adaptation and gives reasons why in some instances adapting is not possible.

Keeping the tourists happy

The article outlines numerous adaptation measures that have been taken. One of which I thought particularly interesting was the removal of snow from high glaciers and moving it to lower down the mountain to ensure the continued income from tourists in the ski season. In the short run this is a clever idea, it means the continued success of a ski resort, unfortunately however the removal of snow from the top of the mountain to the bottom means that it will melt at a faster rate and will actually increase the rate of glacial retreat at the top of the mountain.  Other ski resorts create fake snow; the article mentions these but concludes that continued warming would make them entirely unviable because of the costs of using the machines. The US national ski service association offers discounts to people who purchase carbon offsets, building awareness of the issue of glacial retreat.

Limits to adaptation

In some countries adaptation is not possible, the article cites a few reasons for this one of them is the issue of responsibility. In many cases it is not clear who is responsible for the melting of the glacier. Is it national governments, private companies or the local population that is responsible? Giving responsibility to the right group of people is key in ensuring that the correct path is taken. A local group may not have the resources to deal with a problem, a private company may only have profit in mind and a national government may not see the issues in the local area; only the large scale issues.

A second issue is the fact that glacial retreat has more than one impact. It has impacts on water resources, natural hazards and cultural landscapes. Coming up with one solution that will solve all of these problems is a challenge that has to be overcome if we are to learn to adapt to changing circumstances.

My View

In my opinion the main point of this post is not about how we are adapting to glacial retreat right now but it is about the limitations and how we are going to overcome the problems in the future. There clearly are some hard issues that must be overcome if we are going to be able to adapt to the changing circumstances of glacial retreat. It may well mean prioritizing sorting out one problem above another, whether this is protecting water resources or preventing natural hazards.

Guardian - 4 Short Videos

The Guardian has a 4 part video series which shows some of the problems that locals are encountering because of changing water patterns. It is worth taking some time to watch all 4 parts, they do vary in their relevance but are all equally interesting.

Guardian videos...

Glacial Retreat In The Andes

Glacial melt

Glaciers have always been a lure to the adventurous side of the human psyche, the fact they are disappearing is one of the most persuasive arguments for climate change. Nobody can deny that there must be a reason for spectacular changes in ice volume over relatively short periods of time. Skeptics might point to alternative theories behind glacial melt, a decrease in precipitation, a change in humidity or wind. However, on a global scale the main line of thinking is that air temperature is the primary factor that controls the recent glacial melt. The IPCC (2001) show how for a mid-latitude glacier, a 1 degree centigrade rise in temperature would have the same impact as cloudiness or precipitation decreasing by 30% and 25% respectively. Despite this being the case for mid-latitude glaciers Sicart et al. (2003 in Coudrain et al., 2005) suggest that for tropical glaciers the reason for retreat is more complex, stating that the most important factors could actually be those that determine the local albedo. For all glaciers a shift in the equilibrium line upwards means that more ablation will be taking place in relation to accumulation and the glacier will be retreating.

Tropic Glaciers in the Andes – small glaciers

Andean tropical glaciers are unlike the alpine glaciers; ablation takes place consistently throughout the year. The melting is at its highest when the strongest radiation coincides with the highest amount of precipitation (Coudrain et al., 2005). Glacial retreat in this area has been particularly significant for small glaciers. The Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia has now disappeared, a glacier that had been dated back to 18,000 years BP. The link below shows a map of the retreat over time:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8046540.stm

Glacial retreat in the Andes has not been uniform over the last century; instead it is driven by changes in temperature on a decadal time scale, which are driven by the ENSO mechanism (Coudrain et al., 2005). The warm periods see a negative mass balance (ablation > accumulation) of glaciers whereas during the colder periods there is a positive glacier mass balance. Whilst decadal temperature has driven variations in the rates of retreat the overall pattern has been an increasing average air temperature. Carrasco et al. (2005) report a warming of 1.3-2.1 degrees centigrade in minimum near surface temperature in central Chile between 1961 and 2001.

Examples

Jordan  et al. (2005) – Using aerial photography to quantify the evolution of glacial surface area of the Cotopaxi Volcano ice cap, found a stagnation between 1956 to 1976 and then a strong retreat from 1976 to 1997 where the glaciers lost around 30% of their mass.

Rivera et al. (2005) – found that ice capped volcanoes in the Chilean Lake District had retreated significantly during recent decades. Between 1987 and 2003 the glaciers decreased in area by 0.45km² per year. Thought to be driven mainly by climatic factors.

Mark et al. (2005) – estimated glacial melt contribution to stream flow in the Cordillera Blanca (Peru). Finding that 66% was from glacial melt, which doesn’t bode well for when there are no more glaciers in the area.

My View

Glacial melt water stores a significant amount of freshwater (69.6% of the worlds freshwater). Unfortunately the recent pattern of glacial retreat is likely to lead to water shortages people, bound to impact on health but also on the economies of many countries that rely on the energy that melt water supplies throughout the year. 

Europe Can Not Hide

This article on the Guardians website is one that highlights the impacts of glacial melt a lot closer to home. It refers to the Alps which many will have visited on a skiing trip at some point in their lives. It links nicely to previous discussions that have examined how an earlier start to the ablation period could impact humans living in the area.

Guardian Article

A Worldwide Problem

Without water life cannot exist, rather unfortunate then, that over half of the worlds potable water supply comes from rivers. Rivers are sensitive to change, they are fuelled by precipitation and melt water; both of which are likely to be affected by future climate change (Barnett et al., 2005). A variation of temperature from what we consider normal today would see a change in glacial melt water regimes in snowmelt-dominated areas; but is this actually a problem?

It is when you consider the performance of water management systems, which have been built specifically for current climatic conditions (Barnett et al., 2005). A warmer climate would mean less snow accumulating during the winter period and an earlier melt in the summer period. One region that climate change will have a profound impact is in the Himalayan period, again as mentioned in previous posts in terms of volume of ice, it has the 3^rd largest in the world, but what is crucial is that it supplies water to a significant part of Asia. The China glacial inventory shows that there has been substantial melting in most glaciers, one in particular has retreated 750 metres; alarming when it is noted that it is the main contributor to the Yangtze river (Barnett et al., 2005). The inventory suggests that the rate of glacial retreat is increasing.

To draw from another area of the world with respect to proving glacial retreat is a real threat to societies we venture to the Andes. The summit core of the Quelccaya glacier taken in 1976 was layered; it showed the annual cycle of the glacier and could be traced back 1500 years. A core was taken from the same glacier in 1991 and the layers from the past 20 years were non existent because of the percolation of meltwater (Barnett et al., 2005). Melting at the summit of the glacier is taking place and has been for the last 20 years, something that hasn’t happened in the previous 1500 years ago. Both examples show that glaciers are retreating and not just in one area of the world….

My View

Clearly melting of glaciers is taking place, hopefully those reading this blog now realise this. Clearly it is going to have a high impact on the world and not just on one specific region but the impacts are likely to be felt in most areas of the world. 

Himalayan height problems

I read an excellent article this morning that emphasises the issues that scientists have with Himalayan glaciers. The height of the glaciers and the fact they are not accessible means that compared to the Alps and the Andes there is a lack of data.

However, the locals tell of the huge changes that have taken place in the last decade... Enjoy

Himalayan Glacier Melt - Guardian Article

Peru Struggles

This video looks at the potential impacts of climate change in Peru. Whilst the video looks a bit dated, it clearly outlines some of the disasters that Peru has encountered in the past and looks at what could happen more often if glacial melt continues at the current rate in the country.

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The Costs of Glacial Retreat in the Andes

Some countries and cities that have become dependent on the water that glacial melt provides, it is used for more thank drinking water and in some places it is used as the main source of power through hydro electricity. Vergara et al. (2007) have looked in to the possible implications glacial retreat could have for the Andean region, with particular attention paid to the economic costs that may be incurred.

An introduction to the problem

In the Andes, glacial melt water ensures a year round water supply for agriculture, ecosystem biodiversity, power supplies and potable water (Vergara et al., 2007). Much of the population is dependent on the water that is provided by glacial melt, unfortunately the amount of water is likely to decrease in the future and people will have to adapt to this. Modeling work implies that many of the glaciers in the region could disappear within the next 10-20 years. From 1970 to 2002 glacier cover decreased from 2940km² to 2493km² (Kaser and Osmaston, 2002). The increased melt has seen an increase in runoff, but this runoff is unsustainable. To put it simply, at the moment there is more then enough water because glaciers are melting. Unfortunately, people are dependent on this water and soon it is going to run out!

Most of the population of Peru is located near to the Andes, with the majority of economic activity also present here; both are reliant on the melt water. Quito is a city located in Ecuador, home to 2 million people; when glaciers melt its local economy is likely to falter because water supplies are at risk (Francou et al., 2000). There are numerous projects that could alleviate the problem, none of which are cheap.

Solving the Problem and costs

-          More water sources must be diverted to the city; a reservoir capacity close to 43 million cubic metres will be required, this will cost US$13 million.

-         Water infrastructure will have to be built at a faster pace than was previously thought because of the lack of melt water, this will cost US$100 million over 20 years.

(Vergara et al., 2007)

Ecosystem effects

-          Reduced water regulation will mean a decrease in biodiversity, with many species of fauna not being able to survive the seasonal changes (Mulholland et al., 1997).

Power Generation

-       80% of power in Peru is from hydropower.

-       

      An example – Average annual power supply from the Canon Del Pato hydropower plant would drop from 1540 gigawatt-hours to 1250 gigawatt-hours with a 50% reduction in glacial runoff. If there was no glacial runoff, this would reduce to only 970 gigawatt-hours, a significant reduction(Vergara et al, 2007). A further example of the contribution of meltwater to total stream yield is shown in the table below, it highlights the significant decrease in yield when there is no meltwater adding to the flow.

Economic this lack of power could have major implications for the country. It would be feasible to see rising energy costs as the supply decreases for homeowners. Hydropower plants will also see a reduced income because of the decrease in the amount of energy they will be able to produce. All negative news for the economy (Vergara et al., 2007).

A sentence to think about from Vergara et al., (2007) “Peru will likely have to invest in additional power capacity, most likely thermal-based, at a cost of US$1 billion per gigawatt installed”.

My View

Clearly the Andean region of the world has become over reliant on the water that comes seasonally from meltwater. They will not be able to continue to rely upon this water as the meltwater amount decreases with the continued reduction in glacial size. Their are numerous ways in which the countries could adapt, unfortunately though, the measures they will have to take will probably mean a lot of change at a high cost. How well each country prepares for and adapts to the inevitable decrease in water will determine how the country and the economy in particular cope with the changes.

Bibliography

Kaser, G. and Osmaston, H. (2002) Tropical Glaciers, Cambridge University Press: New York.

General Trends

Over the last week I have read a few articles of interest regarding research related to glaciers. The question I have been pondering is whether glaciers can be used to predict future climate change? They have of course been around for a long time and are affected by the climate so it would make sense that if we can look at how past climate has affected them then perhaps we can infer what will happen in the future.

Indications of their usefulness

-       The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recognized the significance of glacial melt as a temperature sign. They have used fluctuations in there extent in all of their reports since 1990 (Barry, 2006). The use of the data implies that they are a reliable sign of climate fluctuations.

-       A change in glacier length is an obvious illustration of the impact that climate change is having, but this doesn't foresee future climate change. There are 800 glaciers that are monitored every 5-10 years but of these only 100 have long term records (Haeberli, 1998).

-       The issue with just using glacier length as an indicator of climate change is the time lag between temperature change and the change in the glacier length.

-       Oerlemans (1994) used glacial length data to predict global warming. The graph underneath shows Oerlemans prediction in relation to other predictions made using different proxies. It is very similar to the predictions that are made using other proxies, indicating that glaciers can be used to infer temperature. 

Figure 1: Source Real Climate Blog (WWW)

-       The response times of glaciers have been split in to three different groups, listed below; so progress has been made for inferring climate change.

-       Type 1 – steep slopes, extensive crevassing, high velocities near the terminus – 30-20 years response time

-       Type 2 – intermediate characteristics – 40-60 years response time

-       Type 3 – low slopes, moderate crevassing and low terminal velocities – 60-100 years response time.

Barry, 2006

As discussed in previous posts a survey of glacial trends worldwide is not yet possible due to an uneven distribution of measurements. Despite the lack of available data for individual areas the general trends are well known and are illustrated in the below graph which shows the retreat of numerous glaciers over time.

Figure 2: Top graph shows the glacial retreat and advance, bottom graph shows the location of the glaciers.
Source: Real Climate Blog (WWW)

My View


It is true that glaciers can be used as a proxy to infer past temperature. Anybody doing a study on such a thing must take in to account the time lag between the temperature change and the change in the glacier. However, temperature is not the only thing that impacts glaciers, there are a number of factors to take in to account including the amount of precipitation and perhaps human influences. This presents a problem for inferring past temperatures from glaciers, a solution may be to look at multiple proxies and infer temperatures from them, glaciers just being one of the proxies used.

In terms of future climate change, this post does not answer the question and the question must therefore roll over on to future posts.

Bibliography

Haeberli, W. (1998) Historical evolutionand operational aspects of worldwide glacier monitoring, in Haeberli, W., Hoelze, M. and Suter, S. (Eds.), Into the second century of worldwide glacier monitoring – prospects and strategy. Paris: UNESCO, Paris, 35-51.

A year in the life of

My View

This short video is the first video on the blog where we get to see a year of the glacier. This means that we can be sure that pictures are not taken at different times of year. The video does clearly show that the glacier is retreating.

I have talked a lot about glaciers retreating but many people remain skeptical of the fact that this is taking place on a worldwide scale. My next post should end the doubts that remain in the minds of many.

Past Scepticism, the future and sea level rise

Arendt et al. (2002) concentrates on Alaskan glaciers but the points made are relevant to glaciers around the world and the findings they report are thought provoking with regard to sea level change and the contribution that melting mountain glaciers could have. Arendt et al. (2002) starts by highlighting some of the problems that have plagued glacial scientists in the past, showing how difficult measurement of retreat is due to the number of glaciers and the size of some of the larger glaciers. 

Arendt et al (2002) criticise previous findings; in particular the fact that mountain glaciers have contributed to sea level rise, adding 0.2-0.4mm/year for the last century (Persson, 1996). Why? Simply the fact that there has been insufficient measurements of glacier mass balance to be able to draw up firm conclusions on the worlds glaciers. Obviously sampling every one of the worlds 160,000+ glaciers would be a costly and time consuming job; so there are only 40 glaciers worldwide that have been monitored for over 20 years. Of these 40 glaciers few are high latitude glaciers and most of them have been selected because of the ease of access and their small size, not because they are representative of the majority of glaciers (Arendt et al. 2002). In Alaska there are three glaciers that are monitored, all three are small glaciers, past studies have used the data from these glaciers as representative of all Alaska’s Glaciers with regards to the contribution they make to sea level rise. 

Technology continues to develop and Arendt et al (2002) use this technology to more effectively find the extent to which Alaskan mountain glaciers have contributed to sea level rise. Using airborne laser altimetry to measure the volume of 20% of the glaciers in the Alaska region. They measure a total of67 glaciers to predict more accurately the contribution of Alaskan glaciers to global sea rise. This technique likely represents the future of how glacier retreat is measured and certainly the results from this are more reliable than the data collected using only 4 glaciers.

The results

The laser altimetry shows that glacial thinning in the area has become more prevalent in recent years (twice as fast in the last 5 years, compared to the thinning from the mid 1950’s to the mid 1990’s). The results are substantially different to previous estimations of contribution to sea level change. Arendt et al. (2002) found that Alaskan glaciers contributed 9% of the observed sea-level rise (1.5mm/year +/-0.5mm) over the last 50 years and in the last decade this figure could be as large as 3.2mm/year. Clearly previous estimates of the contribution must be questioned, not just for Alaskan glaciers but for estimations made around the world. 


 “Mountain glaciers may be contributing a substantial fraction of the increased rate of sea level rise suggested by satellite observations from 1993 to 1998” (Arendt et al., 2002; 385). A statement that clearly implies the major percentage of sea level rise that is likely attributable to glacial melt.




My View


This post can be split in to two separate parts in my opinion. The first being the past problems with observing glaciers. Clearly scientists in the past have not had sufficient data to be accurate in their predictions. Whilst Arendt et al (2002) show how progression can be made by using technology to assess glaciers they still only sample 20% of the glaciers in the region and so we still cannot be 100% sure of what is taking place with regard to the glacial mass balance. Unfortunately the sampling of 100% of the worlds glaciers is not likely to take place in the near future and so we must do what we can with the data available to prepare for the changes that may come about in the world.

The second part of the article shows the significant contribution made by Alaskan glaciers to sea level change. Just under 10% is highly significant proportion and it would be fascinating to know the percentage of contribution from glaciers worldwide. Needless to say it would likely be a large proportion and means that we should be looking at how best to control the rate of melting that is taking place.

A powerful line

"Retreat of Tibetan Plateau glaciers affects at least half a billion people"    

                                                                                                    Kehrwald et al., 2008 pg1.


My View


Again the scale of the problem is outlined, clearly it is not one to be brushed under the carpet.

The source of the Ganges...

My View

One line that really highlights the issue to me is when it is stated that the glacier has retreated 15 metres in the last 6 months. Unfortunately we don't know the context, if the glacier has retreated this amount in the time of year when the mass balance shifts more to ablation than accumulation then perhaps this is not so surprising. If it is in the time where the glacier should be accumulating mass then there is certainly a severe problem, unfortunately we are not told in which season.

The later part of the video also mentions the fact that no snow on the ground results in less sun being reflected (albedo) than if there were snow on the ground which only increases the glacial melt rate.

Glacier Retreat - A Real Problem

It is important to make sure that all readers are on the same page with regards to the simple question of whether or not glaciers around the world are melting or not. The extreme view might be that glaciers around the world are growing. More likely though, is that people don’t realize the extent of the problem. How wide spread it is and how big the impacts are going to be for the world. In order to show the problem we are facing I looked at some of the publications made by the World Glacial Monitoring Service (WGMS). The Graphs and tables ought to show how large the issue is.

The first set of graphs show the mass balance and what has happened to it over the years. The general trend seems to be a negative; meaning that there is more ablation than accumulation. The graphs below are taken from the 2009 report.

 I have selected glaciers from different parts of the world to illustrate the trends in different parts of the world. Clearly the glaciers all around the world are retreating and it is not just in one place. The Graph below shows the overall mass balance since 1947, the general decreasing trend is again worrying and again from the 2009 report.

Looking at the above graph shows the mass balance decrease well, but combined with the table below ought to prove the scale of the problem.

 My View

It is fairly obvious that the majority of the glaciers around the world are retreating and it is this retreat that will cause problems for humans around the world. There will be implications on local, national and regional scales. Being prepared for the effects will be something that humans will have to do in the future, how they do this will likely vary.

The Vast Scale of the Problem...

The greater Himalayan region in Asia covers approximately 7 million km². Any region as vast in size as this is bound to have a varied climate and the Himalayan region is no different (Xu et al. 2009). The diversity of the climate is clear when examining rates of precipitation. In the Takliman Desert there is under 50mm of precipitation per year; compared to the Charapunji region that receives 11,117mm a year in precipitation (Hofer and Messerli, 2006), both regions are located in the Himalayan region of Asia. Why does this matter? What relevance does this have to a changing climate and retreating environment? Such varied climate means that the region is home to a large number and diverse range of species that inhabit varied ecosystems. Whilst the ecosystems may differ from one another in all other aspects, one thing they do have in common is that they will be affected by a fluctuating climate. Many of these ecosystems will be directly impacted by changing glacial regimes and it is this aspect of climate change that this blog hopes to explore further (Parmesan, 2006).

Before the implications of climate change are touched upon, some of the facts about glaciers in the Himalayan region are required to provide a baseline. There is currently 116,180km² of glacial ice in the Himalayan and Inner Asian ranges, the largest amount outside of the Polar regions (Xu et al., 2009). Glacial melt makes a substantial contribution to total discharge of rivers, the exact amount ranges from 5% to over 45% for different rivers. Wilkes and Xu (2008) state that in Western China glacial meltwater accounts for the provision of 25% of water for the total Chinese population in the dry season. To take away a quarter of a country or areas water would have catastrophic impacts. Economies and individual livelihoods would both be impacted.

What will be the impact of climate change on river regimes in this region?

Quite an obvious question to answer, increased melting will cause increased discharge. The possibility of flooding will be elevated in the short term, which may appear to be a negative impact, however it is rare for a community to complain at receiving surplus levels of water at the opportunity cost of preparing for the excess. Unfortunately it is in the long term where the problem is likely to come to light. What happens when meltwater ceases to contribute to river discharge? The answer, on a simple level, the amount of water flowing in the rivers reduces significantly; over 45% in some rivers in the Himalayan region (Xu et al., 2009). This could induce panic; communities, families and individuals will have to change their lifestyles and adapt to new conditions. The reality of people not being prepared for the inevitable is a bit far fetched, people will have been warned of the future and are no doubt adapting their lifestyles even now to adjust. It is this adjustment that is what I want to explore in the blog, throw in some science and climate change along the way and hopefully your understanding of the subject will improve 10 fold.

My View


It is true that the sheer size of the Himalayan Region means that in the future people will have to change the way they live their lives. This post represents a more significant introduction and you should now realise why the changing climate and in particular glacial retreat is going to have such a strong bearing on the natural world.

A Clear Retreat

My View


The picture is a simple one and should clearly illustrate to the viewer the nature of the problem. Unfortunately we are left to presume that the picture is taken at the same time of year in each year...

A short introduction

This blog will explore the consequences glacial retreat is having and will have on humans in the future. Will cultures suffer because of a changing melt water regime? Perhaps the most important question to answer is; are glaciers actually retreating? If so, what is the cause behind the retreat? All of these questions will be explored in the upcoming posts.

Below is a short video comparing images of past glaciers with the glaciers that are present today. The Glaciers in the video are based in the Himalayas, but the blog wont focus solely on the Himalayas but instead on the general worldwide trends. These images provoked some strong emotions within me and it is this video that gave me the desire to find out why this process is taking place and what it means for the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15216875

Please feel free to give your thoughts…..