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Karl Burkart

Top 7 disappearing glaciers

Here for 10,000 years ... gone in 10. Seven glaciers that are melting before our eyes. Some photos (and a few charts).

Thu, Jan 21 2010 at 7:20 PM EST
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Also on MNN:
> The 15 most toxic places to live
> 9 not-so-crazy ways to combat global warming
 
7. The Matterhorn
c. 1960 & today, Getty Images
 
Many often wonder why Europeans get so hot and bothered about climate change. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they are in direct, daily contact with one very sobering reality — their ice is vanishing. 
 
European glaciers have been some of the hardest hit by climate change. Since the first half of the 19th century, about two-thirds of the ice cover was lost in the Pyrenees with a marked acceleration after 1980 (Chueca et al. 2005 via: UNEP) and in the Alps, home to the world famous Matterhorn, nearly half the glaciers have disappeared since record keeping began.
 
Often called the "water tower" of Europe, the Alps contain 40 percent of Europe's fresh water supply. The dramatic disappearance of ice on the Matterhorn last year has prompted the need for the border between Switzerland and Italy to be redrawn.
 
 
6. Alaska
Muir Glacier, 1941
 
Muir Glacier, 2004
 
It's always struck me as a bit ironic that Alaska, home to several of the most famous gubernatorial climate skeptics (including Sarah Palin) is also home to some of the most dramatic examples of climate change. The astonishing recession of the massive Muir glacier is just one example among dozens (see graphs below), causing many scientists to warn of earthquakes triggered by tectonic plates with suddenly lightened loads. 
 
5. Himalayas
NASA
 
Home to the planet's largest body of ice outside the polar caps, the Himalayas feed several of the world’s largest rivers, supporting close to a billion people. In the western region of Himachal Pradesh, new evidence tracks an annual ice loss of nearly 3 feet in thickness per year, doubling in the past decade from the decade prior (Berthier et al, 2007).
 
Will the Himalayan glaciers disappear this century? Not likely, but Chinese government officials are growing concerned that retreating ice may spell the end of reliable water supplies for China.
 
4. Greenland
Helheim Glacier, Spring 2001
 
Helheim Glacier, Spring 2005
 
Satellite images of Greenland’s Helheim Glacier dating back to the 50s shows that this massive glacier has remained in tact for decades. But In 2000 it suddenly began disappearing. By 2005 the glacier had retreated a total of 4 1/2 miles — at an average rate of 110 feet per day. Ironically, retreating glaciers in Greenland have enabled dozens of new oil and gas exploration projects as vanishing ice makes room for heavy drilling equipment.
 
3. Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro, February 1993 & February 2000
 
Last week a band of celebrities hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the African water crisis. The famous snow-cap formed 11,000 years ago but has diminished more than 85 percent since 1912, and nearby Mount Kenya has lost nearly ALL of its ice at an average of 1 meter per year, threatening water supplies for millions of people. Scientists now predict that the last great African glaciers could be gone within 20 years.
 
2. The Andes
Dr. Edson Ramirez/AP; Universidad Mayor de San Andres
 
The Chacaltaya glacier, once the highest ski resorts on earth, has completely vanished in the relative blink of an eye. A study on Bolivian glaciers in 1998 predicted the glacier’s disappearance by the year 2015, a claim that at the time was dismissed as overly dramatic. But early last year, it was officially announced that the glacier ”... no longer exists,” an event which threatens both water and power supplies in the Andean region.
 
Melting has tripled in the last decade, and it is expected that several adjoining clusters could have less than 30 years to survive.
 
1. Glacier National Monument
Glacial National Park — 1938 & 2005
 
Based on the latest reports, Montana may have to think of a new name for its famous Glacier National Monument. Of the 38 square-mile area once covered by glaciers, less than 25 percent remains. Researchers believe that by the year 2030, the vast majority of ice in Glacier National Park will be gone unless current climate patterns are reversed.
 
ADDENDUM: The GRID Report (PDF) has just released new data for its upcoming 2007/2008 report which shows ever-increasing rates of deglaciation. It's filled with dozens of almost incomprehensible graphs like this one which shows that of the 16 major glaciers studied, all 16 are rapidly melting:
 
For a primer on basic glacier science click on Part 1 of this post.
To learn more about the IPCC Glacier Goof-up read the oh-so-controversial post.
 
MNN homepage photo: repistu/iStockphoto
 

 

CLOSE link:
Previous Post
Top 7 disappearing glaciers, Part 1
   Next Post
Subterranean spectacle: The crystal cave
You might also like:
Related Topics: Climate Change, Environmental Research, Environmental Science, Glaciers, Melting Ice, Weather & Climate

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anonymous
wildbull7 01/27/2011 16:23 PM

no seiriosly im so confused why would the glaiser start melting out of the middle of no where

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anonymous
Jacob 07/14/2010 04:09 AM

Its me the same Jacob who posted about my mustang and hummer its been about 18 weeks before iv come back to check about what i posted i all i have to say is global warming still has no effect on me because its just ice melting "your cars under water" "nothing last for ever" yes that's true nothing last forever that's why i have to buy new cars every few years one for me and one for my wife. FYI people i work hard for my money i don't get a lot of time to sit back typing to modern day hippies.... More

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anonymous
Jay 01/28/2011 03:35 AM

wow. not all of us our pot smokers but I'm not denying i don't lol but wow, you have a delirious perception on some very important and potentially life changing problems. you need to stop using other peoples opinions and gather some of your own thoughts maturely and positively instead of it being so hateful. And that guys right i feel sorry for your kids and your wife if you talk to people like this. like
"dude" what al gore had to say about global warming wasn't the fact that he was.... More

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anonymous
ron 01/26/2011 20:40 PM

You should maybe go back to school Jacob; learn how to talk and write properly before you spout off. Then you might take the time to read a few different factual books before you say things that make your IQ equal your shoe size. I pity your kids as you obviously do not care about future generations which speaks volumes about your family and superficial home life.
People like you create the problems are kids will have to face.

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anonymous
Tony 01/05/2011 15:56 PM

Well, you've pretty much nailed it on the head. Hedonism anyway. You've got some good argue points, however a lot of them are based just as much in speculation as the theories you're arguing. No one knows what the future holds, we could have a 5 degree drop of world wide temperatures. (No one can predict the weather with 100% accuracy, unfortunately.) Though, history I know. History dictates that during the instance of a catastrophe, the "Lesser people" and the "poor" tend to begin overrunning.... More

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anonymous
Rev Norm 12/13/2010 17:03 PM

Are you also a "flat earthling"? wow. Me too! It is hard, in this world today, for those of us who know that the earth is flat, the sun is a burning carriage pulled by demi-god ponies across the sky, lectricity is the work of the devil and the earth is only a few thousand years old. "Hello brother!" It's us versuz dem eh?

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anonymous
vivi hasyim 06/26/2010 05:23 AM

thriller, imagine the lowest island, or the city near port all around the globe will be dissapaer

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anonymous
serg Today 20:59 PM

i think the sun is hotter or earths crust is getting hotter for some reason if not that then its us

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anonymous
Barnabas 05/08/2010 19:46 PM

I was shock to read that the himalaya are going dried up day by day.We had to think lot about our habit.Cause we human are the main reason for this,day by day pollution and cutting off the forest everywhere the infarsture incressing. So ,if we would not put brake then it would be very tough for the new genaration.Only the creator can save us.

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anonymous
arnold diaz 05/03/2010 03:42 AM

Enter your comments here

Let us do our part in protecting our environment

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anonymous
arnold diaz 05/03/2010 03:40 AM

Enter your comments here my good ness holu ****

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anonymous
junento Today 09:54 AM

IM SORRY TO SAY BUT WE DID IT TO ARE SELFS

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anonymous
arnold diaz 05/03/2010 03:40 AM

Enter your comments here my good ness holu ****

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anonymous
sampore 04/29/2010 13:34 PM

thats horable

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anonymous
Greenminded 04/27/2010 03:39 AM

If Glaciers can talk, it would have been like the famous Charlie bit me of you tube.

"People melt me". Ouch people Ouch!
People?...

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anonymous
sherri 04/27/2010 02:22 AM

please excuse my typo's, Im not the greatest typer, that's for sure....lol

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anonymous
sherri 04/27/2010 02:03 AM

I find somethng very interesting. I dont know how many of you are bible readers, or have faith in the bible. But we can safely say it was written long ago. I mean we know it was at least a couple of centuries ago. And John the writer of revelation, who claimed to be inspired wrote everything he saw and was told down. In revelation, chapter 11, verse 18 he said God would bring to ruin, those ruining the earth. How did John know that one day man would be ruining the earth some how? .... More

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anonymous
chandra 05/28/2010 13:01 PM

www.faithandloveministry.com

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anonymous
Ponkaj kumar 04/26/2010 08:57 AM

It is really a today's vulnerable issue .So, we should protect our earth,where we live.Please be aware of global warming,which may destroy our soul.

Please keep our world cool.

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anonymous
mel wahl 04/22/2010 20:02 PM

An ice age ends, whenever the temperatures continue to rise, which eventually causes glaciers to melt. It should be clear to all that the last ice age ended as a result of global warming.

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anonymous
Jacob 04/22/2010 18:09 PM

I dont have time to care about ice melting i live my life the way i want i have a hummer and a ford mustang and i burn gas like nothing and dont regret it i will never turn my lights off for what ever day that is.

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anonymous
anonymous 01/26/2011 14:47 PM

\why dont you care about the world you know what, what would you do if it ended you would REGRET it

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anonymous
anonymous 01/26/2011 14:47 PM

\why dont you care about the world you know what, what would you do if it ended you would REGRET it

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anonymous
Guest Today 22:28 PM

I spit on Hummers whenever I walk past them. It's easy to have your attitude, your only talking about the Earth - the only reason you exist you moron.

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anonymous
Karina Fox 04/30/2010 00:39 AM

Wow I am surprised to see you wrote that ---well one piece of advice--NOTHING LAST FOREVER EVEN CARS

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anonymous
Greenminded 04/27/2010 03:52 AM

Typical mentality of people who only think of themselves. Hope the the melted glacier won't drown you and sink your Mustang. When that time came, you are already old..Swim to the melted glacier if you still can...Too late for regretful EMO. lol.

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anonymous
shannon 04/26/2010 19:58 PM

as long as people keep thinking global warming has nothing to do with their lives or is not real we will continue to have a problem we will continue to have this problem but when the world comes to the end of its time they will be the ones screming and running the most it is in human nature to consume and destroy but we also have potenial to save and build. but like the old saying goes you dont realize what you have untill its gone so as long as we are lead by small minded money hungry.... More

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anonymous
jeff 04/29/2010 13:17 PM

Enter your comments herearle oyu all so powerful you can chan nature get over yourselfs what caused all the othe warm ages and cool downs of the earth man? b4 industial age its a natural cycle you idiots and eating grass and ******* tea leaves wont change it

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anonymous
Goose 06/15/2010 23:16 PM

Blowing hot air is a major cause of global warming. Whew it stinks. We feel helpless against powerful corporations and impulsive self centered people. To be a physician to the world first do no harm. Or to paraphrase a physician I met. Try not to do anything stupid.

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anonymous
Chris 04/22/2010 13:03 PM

When the treehuggers realize that the cause of the melt in Geothermal and not atmospheric, then maybe we can put this to rest. The earth is changing, nothing man can do to stop it. Its comming from within the mantle. Volcanoes and Earthquakes are the result.

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anonymous
Todd 04/22/2010 11:51 AM

Enter your comments here I am not implying we should give up and get yours while you can...This is comment from the juggernaghts perspective...I will never give up. I worship our great mother earth

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anonymous
Todd 04/22/2010 11:33 AM

Enter your comments here The forces blocking America to realize Global Warming is real are formiddable. Warren Buffett, Rupert Murdoch, Exxon and Republicans to name a few, have aleady destroyed any legislative action from being taken. They have cast doubt to the public with scientists who agree with them and thier interests. Why don't they care? Because they will be dead when the effects of gloabal warming will be dire. This is a future problem. Why should they care the earth will die when.... More

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anonymous
Kolean Azerbajan 02/10/2011 20:38 PM

If liberals were to implement all the so called changes to our energy environment, then you and I and all the people in the world would have to pay a significant part of our income just to drive to work or heat our houses. Are you stupid enough to believe people would accept it. Soon there would be no work.

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anonymous
Risa Grumppe 04/22/2010 06:52 AM

OMG!! I can't believe we're going this to nature...we have to get it back!! I wish we could, but Im going to become more green

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anonymous
BlogShag 04/19/2010 19:35 PM

The pictures of the Matterhorn look too different and are taken at vastly different angles to make a good judgment. Also was one picture taken in the summer and one in the winter?

I don't understand why glacier melt is such a big problem? It's the reason we have some fabulous lakes around the world, (Lake Tahoe, Great Lakes, Crater Lake, etc..)

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anonymous
Guest 04/22/2010 20:33 PM

they provide water for over a billion people...

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anonymous
Mattia 04/22/2010 09:59 AM

Aru you kidding? What It means "It's the reason we have some fabulous lakes.."? And where there are common lake, we have to expect fabulous deserts? Tought the result is better than the original, the problem is that the change is not a natural matter, but a human result...
P.s. I'm sorry for my english, but i'm not a mother tongue...

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anonymous
Dale Bechtel 04/14/2010 02:07 AM

I agree that glaciers are in rapid retreat, but your argument lacks credibility when you show a picture of the Matterhorn in winter and one in summer. There is no evidence here of melting glaciers. And the glaciers near the Matterhorn (i.e. Theodul, Gorner) are not shown in the pictures. There are many examples well illustrated and available online of melting ice sheets in the Alps. One of the best is of Switzerland's Trift glacier (near Susten Pass). Dale Bechtel, Editor, UIAA (International.... More

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anonymous
dawnwinds58 04/13/2010 21:41 PM

Muir and Pedersen in Alaska, and Qori Kalis Glacier, Peru are by themselves enough to see something is wrong with this picture. WAKE UP AMERICA AND WORLD!
A warm sun and some flares are NOT going to localize and melt a glacier, or 7, without heating up other things as well. Why is it all getting through to the earth's surface? Us of course, we're killing our protective atmosphere day by day. The only question is who pays for it, the great-grandchildren, the grandchildren, or our sons and.... More

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anonymous
NO SCIENTIST 04/13/2010 18:14 PM

I am by no means an expert, but, if you look at the pictures in Alaska where ice was the only thing in view before, now you have life nourishing greenery. AS IN OXYGEN MAKING TREES. The earth is alive and it changes, nothing more. We will adapt just as she does.

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anonymous
Andy 04/13/2010 15:49 PM

I live in Michigan, the vast bodies of water that sorround Michigan were created by glaciers, and they are gone now. What is happening is natural, I hate hearing people say that man is causing this planet to warm. I agree that we are damaging it, but we are not warming it.

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anonymous
stormie 04/13/2010 12:50 PM

I myself think it a part of evolution nothing stays the same all things must evolve....

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anonymous
GnominClature 04/13/2010 10:26 AM

Entropy is the natural state of which systems break down. Trying to say that there's an environmental change and that there's antagonism against it is rather pointless, don't you think? Consider that our existence has been rather limited on this planet, but as a whole, life has been around for quite some time on this planet. Because I am comfortable with the idea of entropy, I don't squabble about who is right and and who is wrong because this fight in either perspective is ignoring the.... More

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anonymous
Harry 02/02/2010 00:03 AM

Climate chief was told of false glacier claims before Copenhagen -- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7009081.ece

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anonymous
Harry 02/02/2010 00:02 AM

UN climate change panel based claims on student dissertation and magazine article -- .... More

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anonymous
CommonMan 01/29/2010 14:43 PM

I find it astounding that the glaciers are receding. Have they always been doing this since the last ice age, or is this a relatively new phenomena? If they were not receding, that is expanding, should we be as worried, less worried or indifferent?

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anonymous
James 01/23/2010 22:55 PM

Oops -UN climate change expert: there could be more errors in report

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6999051.ece

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anonymous
Mel Byrd 01/23/2010 19:52 PM

We were in a solar maximum so the melt was expected as per a natural cycle. The deep solar minimum we are in now has more than compensated with NASA greatly dropping it's Hot projections for this sun cycle 24 (current peak 2013) & warning us that
sun cycle 25 will be very weak - more ice than we want. These pictures are terribly decieving. The Hubbard Glacier was advancing 7 feet per day by May 09. US Corp of Army Engs, CREEL, USGS are all monitoring with NASA providing LIDar measurements.... More

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anonymous
Guest 01/23/2010 15:16 PM

It's hard to believe that there are actually people who would choose to see the Earth --- the home to all life as we know it, by the way --- perish right before their very eyes and know that the cause is based on their higher self-interests in things such as money, natural resources, power, and other things that drive materialistic destruction.

Equally alarming is the absurd reality that there are people (and the comments here that try to debunk global warming) who stoop to defend the.... More

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anonymous
Guest 04/13/2010 10:01 AM

Changes to the earth and environment occur naturally each day. Humans can have an impact on that change, but it is only minimal, even if we unleash all of our chemicals and nuclear capabilities. A volcano eruption can cause equal if not greater damage and the affects are not by greed. I agreed that humans should be responsible and wisely use the resources available, but I am not so naive to think or believe that humans (or human greed) is the cause or major contributing factor to natural.... More

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