The Countdown to the Demise of Glaciers

Posted: March 8, 2022 1:53 pm

Glaciers, regardless of their particular location in the world, are hundreds to thousands of years old. Surprisingly, there are about ten different types of glaciers outlining their various traits.

These arctic structures provide a scientific blueprint of how the climate has evolved. The data gathering process is largely contributed by NASA’s satellite imaging, statistical analysis, and 3D digital topography.

With the progression of the Industrial Revolution of the early 1900s, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide have caused elevated temperatures, especially in the North and South poles causing the glaciers to be melting rapidly.

As they are thoroughly researched, valuable information is gained on the reasons for the increased warming of the planet providing glaciologists, scientists of the study of glaciers, data on climate change. Seals are also assisting in data gathering with monitoring devices to give scientists a more complete understanding of temperature changes occurring in the Antarctic’s icy waters.

Currently, a small portion of earth is blanketed with glaciers, the majority located in Antarctica, and the balance in Greenland influencing oceanic currents by slowing ocean currents with the differences in the water’s temperature changes.

As melting continues, sea levels rise. In fact, TheGuardian.com reported on a paper published in Nature the following devastating statistic, “Between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost 267 gigatonnes (Gt) of ice per year, equivalent to 21% of sea-level rise”. The Arctic is currently warming fastest as compared to other areas on earth. This ice melting interferes with typical ocean circulation. Studies have shown that because of a combination of warmer air, calefaction in the Arctic and the tropics, and alterations of the jet stream, the polar vortex is happening beyond the Arctic more often.

As a result, the integrity of the fishing industry has been adversely affected, largely due to catastrophic weather events generated by climate change.

The effects of these alterations are far-reaching. As glaciers melt and ocean warmth continue, oceanic patterns will interrupt meteorological trends globally. Robust fisheries will be adversely affected as warmer waters alter piscine ecosystems.

Thriving coastal communities will also continue experiencing billion-dollar disaster recovery rebuilding as flooding becomes more frequent and storms intensify. Wildlife like penguins, walruses, and polar bears face extinction because of the inability to adapt to their changing habitats.

Diminished oceanic levels will ultimately aid in drought-like conditions. According to The Guardian, Romain Hugonnet, of the University of Toulouse, said: “the data was an urgent warning”. He went on to add, “A doubling of the thinning rates in 20 years for glaciers outside Greenland and Antarctica tells us we need to change the way we live.

We need to act now,” he said. “It can be difficult to get the public to understand why glaciers are important because they seem so remote, but they affect many things in the global water cycle including regional hydrology, and by changing too rapidly, can lead to the alteration or collapse of downstream ecosystems.”

Human interference has tampered with the health and well-being of wildlife and mankind, with future ramifications on both uninhabited and occupied lands. For these reasons and many others, the powers that be must realize the magnitude of this situation and act with a greater sense of urgency to prohibit yet another extinction-level event in world history.

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