The Retreat of Mountain Glaciers since the Little Ice Age: A Spatially Explicit Database

• Published in: Data
• Main Authors: Marta, Silvio, Azzoni, Roberto, Fugazza, Davide, Tielidze, Levan, Chand, Pritam, Sieron, Katrin, Almond, Peter, Ambrosini, Roberto, Anthelme, Fabien, Alviz Gazitúa, Pablo, Bhambri, Rakesh, Bonin, Aurélie, Caccianiga, Marco, Cauvy-Fraunié, Sophie, Ceballos Lievano, Jorge, Clague, John, Cochachín Rapre, Justiniano, Dangles, Olivier, Deline, Philip, Eger, Andre, Cruz Encarnación, Rolando, Erokhin, Sergey, Franzetti, Andrea, Gielly, Ludovic, Gili, Fabrizio, Gobbi, Mauro, Guerrieri, Alessia, Hågvar, Sigmund, Khedim, Norine, Kinyanjui, Rahab, Messager, Erwan, Morales-Martínez, Marco, Peyre, Gwendolyn, Pittino, Francesca, Poulenard, Jerome, Seppi, Roberto, Chand Sharma, Milap, Urseitova, Nurai, Weissling, Blake, Yang, Yan, Zaginaev, Vitalii, Zimmer, Anaïs, Diolaiuti, Guglielmina, Rabatel, Antoine, Ficetola, Gentile
• Other Authors: Università degli Studi di Milano Milano (UNIMI), Victoria University of Wellington, University of Central Punjab, Universidad Veracruzana, Lincoln University, New Zealand, Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Universidad de los Lagos (Chile), Heidelberg University, Riverly (Riverly), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Simon Fraser University (SFU.ca), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry ), Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca Milano (UNIMIB), Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA ), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Universidad de los Andes Bogota (UNIANDES), University of Pavia, National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyz Republic, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), University of Texas at Austin Austin, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: global scale; pre-satellite era; little ice age; climate change; Glacier retreat; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03377264; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03377264/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03377264/file/Marta%20et%20al21%20dataset%20glacier%20LIA.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3390/data6100107

International audience Most of the world’s mountain glaciers have been retreating for more than a century in response to climate change. Glacier retreat is evident on all continents, and the rate of retreat has accelerated during recent decades. Accurate, spatially explicit information on the position of glacier margins over time is useful for analyzing patterns of glacier retreat and measuring reductions in glacier surface area. This information is also essential for evaluating how mountain ecosystems are evolving due to climate warming and the attendant glacier retreat. Here, we present a non-comprehensive spatially explicit dataset showing multiple positions of glacier fronts since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maxima, including many data from the pre-satellite era. The dataset is based on multiple historical archival records including topographical maps; repeated photographs, paintings, and aerial or satellite images with a supplement of geochronology; and own field data. We provide ESRI shapefiles showing 728 past positions of 94 glacier fronts from all continents, except Antarctica, covering the period between the Little Ice Age maxima and the present. On average, the time series span the past 190 years. From 2 to 46 past positions per glacier are depicted (on average: 7.8)