EESA11H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Glacier Mass Balance, Tropospheric Ozone, Global Warming Controversy
1 Aug 2018
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Document Summary
Global warming has led to negative glacier mass balance, causing glacier retreat around the world. Records from 1900 to 1980 are showing a net decline in 142 of the 144 mountain glaciers. Similarly, averaged glacier data across large-scale regions show that every region had a net decline from 1960 to 2002, though a few local regions (e. g. scandinavia) have shown increases. Some glaciers that are in disequilibrium with present climate have already disappeared and increasing temperatures are expected to cause continued retreat in the majority of alpine glaciers around the world. Of particular concern is the potential for failure of the hindu kush and himalayan glacial melts. The melt of these glaciers is a large and reliable source of water for china, india, and much of asia, and these waters form a principal dry-season water source. Sea levels have risen since the last ice age.
