Glaciers

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Global glacier melt continues

Glaciers around the globe continue to melt at high rates. Tentative figures for the year 2007, of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate a further loss of average ice thickness of roughly 0.67 meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Some glaciers in the European Alps lost up to 2.5 m w.e.

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Arctic heats up more than other places

Temperature change in the Arctic is happening at a greater rate than other places in the Northern Hemisphere, and this is expected to continue in the future.

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NASA team uses satellites to measure sea level changing glaciers

A NASA-led research team has used satellite data to make the most precise measurements to date of changes in the mass of mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska, a region expected to be a significant contributor to global sea level rise over the next 50-100 years.

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A glacier's life

EPFL researchers have developed a numerical model that can re-create the state of Switzerland's Rhône Glacier as it was in 1874 and predict its evolution until the year 2100.

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Antarctica ice-sheet loss modeled

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been rapidly losing mass to the oceans over recent decades. The most significant losses have occurred across the Amundsen Sea coastline, where dynamical changes in outlet glaciers have led to increased discharge.

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Most Alaskan glaciers retreating, thinning, and stagnating

Most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to a new book published by the U.S. Geological Survey. In places, these changes began as early as the middle of the 18th century.

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Unravelling inconvenient truth of glacier movement

Predicting climate change depends on many factors not properly included in current forecasting models, such as how the major polar ice caps will move in the event of melting around their edges. This in turn requires greater understanding of the processes at work when ice is under stress, influencing how it flows and moves.

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Ways to fight lake trout invasion in Glacier National Park

Natural barriers like waterfalls play an important role in preventing lake trout from spreading through Glacier National Park, so maintaining those barriers should be a priority, Montana State University researchers said after conducting a four-year study in the park.

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Glaciers reveal Martian climate has been recently active

Brown University researchers have found compelling evidence of thick, recurring glaciers on Mars, a discovery that suggests that the Red Planet’s climate was much more dynamic than previously believed – and could change again. Results are published on the cover of Geology magazine.

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Antarctic ice loss speeds up, nearly matches Greenland loss

Ice loss in Antarctica increased by 75 percent in the last 10 years due to a speed-up in the flow of its glaciers and is now nearly as great as that observed in Greenland, according to a new, comprehensive study by UC Irvine and NASA scientists.

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What caused widespread cooling 8,200 years ago?

Records from ice cores show that around 8,200 years ago the Northern Hemisphere's climate abruptly cooled. Many scientists link this event to the final drainage of Lake Agassiz, a large glacial lake covering much of central Canada that formed at the foot of North America's continental glaciers.

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Ancient ice may return to life as glaciers melt

The DNA of ancient microorganisms, long frozen in glaciers, may return to life as the glaciers melt, according to a paper published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Boston University. The article is scheduled to appear in the print edition on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

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