The media reported the possible disappearance of 180,000 glaciers due to warming
European and American climatologists warn that if global warming continues, the Earth will lose from 2 thousand to 4 thousand glaciers annually, which will lead to a sharp reduction in their number by the end of the century. This was reported on December 15 by Politico newspaper with reference to Lander von Tricht, a researcher at the Swiss Higher Technical School.
"Mountain glaciers located at low altitude or in low latitudes will be the most vulnerable to these processes. These include ice massifs in the Alps, the Caucasus and the North American Rocky Mountains," von Tricht said.
According to research by climatologists, if the temperature on the planet rises to +4 degrees by the end of the 21st century, this will lead to the loss of almost all existing glaciers. Studies conducted under various climatic scenarios show that the total number of glaciers on Earth may decrease from 200,000 to 18,000. The most significant impacts will be on glaciers in the Alps, the Caucasus, the Rocky Mountains and the Andes, where more than half of the glaciers will disappear in the next 1020 years.
Scientists have considered four scenarios of climate change — from the optimistic one, in which emissions will be stopped, to the most pessimistic one, with a temperature increase of +4 degrees. At best, the peak of glacier extinction will occur in 2041, when the Earth will lose about 2 thousand glaciers per year. In a more severe scenario, this peak will shift to 2055, and annual losses will amount to 4,000 glaciers. As a result, only 18,000 of the largest and coldest glaciers will survive by the end of the century.
Such a reduction in glaciers will have serious consequences for ecosystems and the availability of fresh water. Only 20 out of 3.6 thousand Alpine glaciers will remain in Central Europe, 99% of glaciers will disappear in the Rocky Mountains of the USA, and 96 and 94% of glaciers will be lost in Central Asia and the Andes, respectively. Scientists emphasize that in order to prevent such changes, it is necessary to actively combat global warming.
On December 1, Science Daily magazine reported on the rapid weakening of the Thwaites Glacier. According to the study, a four-stage sequence of shelf weakening was recorded. According to experts, long cracks appeared first along the direction of movement of the ice, and then short, transverse ones. As specified, this configuration provoked increased destruction due to the acceleration of the flow, and after the destruction, a new acceleration occurred.
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