Politics More News For Republicans To Ignore
Alaskan glaciers melting twice as fast as expected. (Registration required.)
The glaciers of Southeast Alaska are shrinking twice as quickly as scientists had previously estimated, according to a new study.The findings from Fairbanks and Juneau glaciologists are slated for publication in a leading scientific journal.
During a 52-year period, the Panhandle lost ice in 95 percent of its glacier-covered areas, said Roman Motyka, of Juneau, one of the study’s co-authors.
The scientists participating in the study pinpointed the amount of ice loss by analyzing changes in the elevation of Southeast Alaska’s glaciers between 1948 and 2000.
Their measurements show Southeast Alaska lost an average of roughly 14.6 cubic kilometers of ice per year during that time period.
A cubic kilometer roughly equates to 264 billion gallons of water - about a quarter more than Los Angeles consumes in one year, according to estimates by NASA.
Juneau residents and tourists visit the retreating Mendenhall Glacier daily. Some of the most dramatic ice losses in the Panhandle are underway at lake-terminating glaciers, such as the Mendenhall, fed by the Juneau Icefield, according to the study.
“I just few over the Juneau Icefield three days ago. I was absolutely shocked by how dry and shrunken it looked,” said Nick Jans, a Juneau author, on Tuesday.
Further to the south, the amount of ice loss at Tracy Arm’s South Sawyer Glacier is “not even conceivable,” said Juneau photographer Mark Kelley.
via Grist.
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