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The Disappearance and Shrinking of Glaciers due to Global Warming
By Laura Barnhoorn
Earth Day April 22, 2008 is a day in which we not only celebrate our planet,
but also stand up and voice our thoughts about the fact that our planet is
in danger! Yes, it
is true; our planet is in danger due to Global Warming.
Global Warming causes plenty of problems: heavy snowfall, rising sea
levels, and shrinking glaciers!
Glaciers are melting more and more rapidly. Warming temperatures are
melting them away and some glaciers have almost completely disappeared!
So what are you going to
do about it?
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http://www.earthday.net/adrienne.aspx
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What are Glaciers?
Have you ever seen a glacier? One thing you will notice immediately is the
huge snow masses. Glaciers are large moving, masses of snow and ice fields.
Scientists compare them with a river because of their shapes. Some huge
glaciers are found in Antarctica, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Glaciers
have sculpted mountains and carved out valleys. Glaciers store
water (about 75% of the world’s freshwater) because of the ice and snow.
Glaciers are formed by layers of snow and every year a new layer is formed
when snow falls. You would think this increases the mass (size) of the
glacier; however, glaciers are shrinking nowadays due to global warming!
http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/images/ueol_02_img0069.jpg
This map shows the places in the world where Glaciers
occur. As you can see on the map, Glaciers occur in Antarctica, Greenland
and Canada. |
So what are we going to
do about it? We need to change something because global warming has a far
reaching effect. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and
politicians such as Al Gore predict that after a few 100 years most of the
glaciers will disappear! Earth Day 2008 is an opportunity to reflect and
stand up for our planet, our wildlife, and of course our glaciers. We are
in danger!
Are you going to
help?
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This picture shows a Glacier. The Glacier is
melting as you can see by the water underneath the Glacier and the ice
shelves.
http://www.rutasur.com/en/images/stories/Picture%20029.jpg
Would you like to know more about Glaciers? Follow the
link to a scientific website for more information: http://nsidc.org/glaciers/
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How are glaciers formed?
If you have ever seen a glacier, you will notice that
the landscape is different. This is because of where the glacier is
located. There are two types of glaciers; valley glaciers and continental
glaciers. Glaciers appear in valleys and polar regions because the climate
is cold and snow falls. The landscape is rocky and there are mountains most
of the time. Glaciers form the landscape, but how are the glaciers formed
itself?
Every year a new layer of ice and snow is created when
the snow falls. The snow never melts in the valleys and Polar Regions where
glaciers are located. When a glacier melts, it starts to move slowly under
the pressure of its own weight. When it moves, the glacier grinds against
the wall and ground of the valley, which makes the valley deeper and wider.
Many lakes and valleys have been carved out by old glaciers. |
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Who cares if they melt? So what!
Our planet is warming up because of Global Warming. This
has many consequences in our lives and will have a huge impact on our
environment! Global Warming causes rising sea levels and heavy snowfall.
Glaciers throughout Alaska are shrinking more and more rapidly. Scientists
have compared old photos taken a century ago with photos of today. They say
that the pictures provide the most dramatic evidence that global warming is
real. In years to come, Global Warming will have a far reaching
effect, especially near the poles where the ice melts.
Glaciers are starting to melt and to shrink. Some Glaciers
have almost completely disappeared! For example the Franz Josef Glacier in
New Zealand.
Picture of the Franz Josef Glacier in 1939 click "next page" on the website to see a picture taken in 2001.
The disappearances of glaciers have effects on the land.
Glaciers move all the time because of the pressure of their own weight, but
when glaciers melt they move slowly downwards. They reshape the landscape
and land beneath them, and transport materials as they move, which means
that these materials will be left behind and could pollute the nature and
lands located near the Glacier. There are more effects from a melting
glacier; glaciers store water and ice, so when a glacier melts the volume
of water increases in rivers and lakes which cause floods! Cities, towns,
and farms near these rivers may be victims of these floods!
As you can see on the pictures below, a lake is formed. If all the ice in the world would melt, the water level
would rise with 70 meters worldwide! This may cause serious problems in
many places in the world.
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http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_photo/repeat_photography.html
This is a picture of the Muir Glacier in Alaska. The
left picture was taken in 1941. The right was taken in 2004! The glacier
melted and what was left was a lake. Imagine if this were to happen to all
glaciers in the world! The sea level would rise and more floods will occur.
More than 12 kilometers of the glacier has been melted away and the glacier
has thinned by more than 800 meters! The ice melted and was replaced by
water that filled the valley. The end of the Glacier has retreated out of
view. In 1914 there were only bare rocks; now trees and shrubs are growing. |
This image shows the lakes left behind by retreating
glaciers in the Bhutan-Himalaya.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GLIMS/Images/aster_bhutan_glaciers.jpg
According to data from The World
Glacier Monitoring Service of Zurich in Switzerland and the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP), between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the
average rate of melting and thinning of glaciers has more than doubled!
http://www.unep.org/
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Wait a minute! We
can’t just stop Global Warming all at once!
Yes, that's true, but I think we could change
things bit by bit. After Earth Day, we should be aware that Global Warming
causes Glaciers to melt. If we all work together to stop Global Warming, we can save our glaciers. We must preserve our Glaciers! They are wonderful
thing! If everyone helped we could stop Global Warming and prevent more
Glaciers from disappearing. We have to be aware how fast glaciers melt, not
only on Earth Day but everyday of our lives! Because if we don’t do
something about it, we will lose our glaciers, our cities because of rising
sea levels, and our world!
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Bibliography
National Snow and Ice Data Center. www.nsidc.org
Visited: February
28, 2008
Glaciers. 8 April 2008, 11:24. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier
Visited:
February, 28 2008
World View of Global Warming. Glaciers and Glaciel Warming. 2005
- 2008 http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html
Visited:
February 29, 2008
Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, Updated by Nancy Smith, 8/01. http://42explore.com/glaciers.htm
Visited: February 29, 2008
1995-2008 Melting Glaciers Signal Global Warming. May 31, 2008 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010529235344.htm
Visited: March
4, 2008
Repeat Photography of Glaciers
http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_photo/repeat_photography.html
Visited: March
20, 2008
Meltdown in the Mountains, 16 March 2008.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=530&ArticleID=5760&l=en
Visited: March
20, 2008
Global Warming & energy. Glacier National Park is a Global Warming Laboratory. 2008
http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/articles/glacier.asp
Visited: April
7, 2008
Earth Observatory. Sizing Up the Earth's Glaciers by Evelyne Yohe.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GLIMS/Images/aster_bhutan_glaciers.jpg
Visited: March
8, 2008 |
