Glaciers and ice caps. Part I: Global overview and outlook. Part II: Glacier changes around the world
Glaciers and ice caps are among the most fascinating elements of nature, an important freshwater resource but also a potential cause of serious natural hazards. Because they are close to the melting point and react strongly to climate change, glaciers are important indicators of global climate. Glac...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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UNEP
2007
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| Online Access: | https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/40427/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/40427/1/Zemp_Glaciers_and_ice_caps_Part_I_Global_overview_and_outlook_Part_II_Glacier_changes_around_the_world_2007.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-40427 |
| Summary: | Glaciers and ice caps are among the most fascinating elements of nature, an important freshwater resource but also a potential cause of serious natural hazards. Because they are close to the melting point and react strongly to climate change, glaciers are important indicators of global climate. Glaciers reached their Holocene (the past 10 000 years) maximum extent towards the end of the Little Ice Age (the Little Ice Age extended from the early 14th to mid-19th century.) Since then, glaciers around the globe have been shrinking dramatically, with increasing rates of ice loss since the mid-1980s. On a time-scale of decades, glaciers in various mountain ranges have shown intermittent readvances. However, under the present climate scenarios, the ongoing trend of worldwide and fast, if not accelerating, glacier shrinkage on the century time-scale is not a periodic change and may lead to the deglaciation of many mountain regions by the end of the 21st century. Glacial retreat and melting of permafrost will shift cryospheric hazard zones. This, in combination with the increasing socio-economic development in mountain regions, will most probably lead to hazard conditions beyond historical precedence. Changes in glaciers may strongly affect the seasonal availability of freshwater, especially when the reduction of glacier runoff occurs in combination with reduced snow cover in winter and earlier snowmelt, less summer precipitation, and enhanced evaporation due to warmer temperatures. The most critical regions will be those where large populations depend mainly on water resources from glaciers during the dry season and glaciated mountain ranges that are densely populated and highly developed. This chapter on glaciers and ice caps is divided into two parts: 1) Global Overview and Outlook, and 2) Glacier Changes around the World. |
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