Alps melting



Glaciers in the European Alps are melting very fast, so much so that the mountains could be almost ice free by the beginning of the next century. A study, to be published in the Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that the Alps will become almost free of ice by 2100, given a nine-degree-Fahrenheit (five-degree-Celsius) rise in summer air temperature. A temperature increase of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) would see glacier cover shrink by 80 percent by the end of the century.



Skiing being one of the main attractions no one will be too keen to visit black Alps. Some ski resort operators are so concerned about their cold resources that they have started covering them in a variety of textiles to protect them from the sun. However this is a very small step to impede the process of shrinking of the glaciers. Fast-melting glaciers could also leave Alpine settlements defenseless against devastating floods and rock falls. The global picture can be contradicting, in some regions glaciers have actually developed in the past decade, in response to short-term changes in weather patterns. For example, on the west coasts of New Zealand and Norway, increased winter snowfall has nullified the effect of rising temperatures.



Via: National Geographic