Glaciers

16 March 2008 -- The United Nations Environment Program says the world's glaciers are shrinking at record rates and many could disappear within decades, in a troubling sign of global climate change.

The U.N. agency said Sunday that glaciers shrank by an average of 1.5 meters in 2006, up from just over half a meter in 2005. The agency says further ice loss could have dramatic consequences, particularly in Asia where millions of people depend on seasonal melt water from the Himalayas.    » read more »

Global sea level has been climbing steadily over the past 80 years—and the contribution from melting ice has been more substantial than previously estimated, according to new research in Science Express.

The missing factor in earlier calculations: how much of the Earth's water is impounded in artificial reservoirs, say Benjamin Chao and colleagues at National Central University in Chung-Li, Taiwan.    » read more »

03 September 2007 -- National parks in the United States are revered for their natural beauty and wildlife. They are fragile ecosystems that are cared for and preserved for future generations. Because of their fragile nature, they are also places where scientists are beginning to see the effects of climate change or global warming. VOA's Jeff Swicord reports from Glacier National Park in the Western state of Montana.    » read more »

30 May 2007 -- The environmental activist organization Greenpeace says rising temperatures are fast melting Himalayan glaciers, potentially endangering water supplies to millions of people in Asia and threatening dangerous floods. Greenpeace is urging China and other countries to take immediate measures to reduce carbon emissions in order to fight global warming.

The Chinese chapter of Greenpeace says its investigation of Himalayan glaciers during three expeditions to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the last two years shows they are retreating as temperatures continue to rise.    » read more »