Global Warming ...?

Question

How is Global warming Affecting Glaciers? Be specific

Answer 1

The glaciers at Glacier National Park in n.w. Montana have receeded to expose land which has been ice-covered an estimated 20,000 years.

Some have stated that even if we stop emitting all greenhouse gases today, the effects will not be felt for about 30 years. The United States and other countries have done much in recent years to reduce CO2 emissions while others like China (who is firing up a new coal-fired powerplant every 2 weeks) are running counter to those efforts. At the same time, other countries are clearing forests at a trmendous pace for cattle farming. These forests exchange Co2 into oxygen which helps to reduce the global impact of greenhouse gas. There is still much we can do on a personal level to help but I seriously doubt we will until the problem directly affects us all...and by then it may be too late.
Coastal communities worldwide shoud begin making plans to move farther inland.

Additional Comment:
Thumbs-down all you want, the facts are the facts. Yes, there is some cyclic pattern of glacial recession but ice-core samples taken in arctic and antarctic ice fields are showing higher carbon dioxide levels than in past centuries.
Perhaps the tree-hugging environmental nazis are onto something this time.

BTW: The ozone issue is unrelated to global warming. Ozone depleting CFCs have been controlled since 1995 when strict environmental regulations concerning the handling and release of specific flourocarbon gases like r-12, r-22 refrigerant, and certain aerosols went into effect. The results have proven positive.

Answer 2

Contrary to the many of the previous answers, global warming is an indisputable fact. People may not like to accept it but that doesn't mean it's not happening.

In short glaciers are shrinking and Glacier National Park is a perfect example of this.

Now for a more detailed explanation...

Glaciers are formed when snow falls higher up the mountain. Over a period of many years it is compressed by the weight of additional snowfall until it becomes ice. A glacier is basically a river of ice slowly moving down a mountain due to the effects of gravity.

In some places, notably the Arctic and Antarctic regions, glaciers snake downhill until the reach the sea or ocean. The waves lapping at the base of the glacier's snout cause erosion and in time the overhang breaks off, this cycle repeats itself forever.

In other areas there is an annual advance and retreat of the glaciers. As the temperature warms up in the summer months the glacier melts quicker than it forms with the result that it retreats back up the mountain. In the colder winter months it advances back down the mountain.

How much it advances or retreats each year depends on how warm or cold the season is. In very cold seasons glaciers can advance much further down a mountain than normal and in some cases they take out roads, power lines and occasionally even houses.

In recent years glaciers have been retreating more than they've been advancing. It's very easy to see how far glaciers have advanced in the past because they push debris along in front of them (called terminal or end moraine), when the glacier melts it leaves a line of debris at the point of furthest advance. In some cases animal and human remains that have been carried down the mountain over many years are exposed in this manner, the ice preserves the flesh and tissue and apart from being withered and a yellow/brown colour the body parts are in remarkably good condition.

There are many places you can go and see for yourself just how far up the mountains the glaciers have retreated and you'll see examples near most of the world's major ski resorts. The photos on this webpage dramatically illustrate how glaciers have retreated since 1850... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_of_glaciers_since_1850


Another thing that can happen is the formation of a glacial melt-water lake. As the ice melts it creates a lake but the glacier itself acts as a dam and prevents the water from escaping. Eventually the water is released when the 'dam' melts. In a similar way a glacier in one valley can melt but if the head of the valley is blocked by another glacier the water can't escape and it forms a lake. In time the glacier blocking the valley melts and the water is released in much the same way as a dam bursting.

There's a very good example of this in Glen Roy in Scotland, the lake burst through the glacier damming it in on three occasions, each time the water level dropped and each time it eroded a new shoreline. The lake has long since gone altogether but the shorelines remain. They run parallel to each other around the sides of Glen Roy and neighbouring glens and are known as the 'Parallel Roads'. http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/earth_icy_planet/glaciers15-en.html?id=15

Answer 3

Ice caps will melt causing the Earth to be flooded over with water. The coastlines of Flordia will disappear under the water and the proposed world trade memorial will be submerged. The coastlined of Japan, India, and many othe countries will sink under water.
Here is the other side however.
Gore says the ice caps on Mt. Kilimanjaro are disappearing due to global warming, but the British science journal Nature attributes this to the fact that humans have cut down forests, producing humidity around the volcano.

Others believe it is normal for the Earth to get gradually warmer and then have it gradually cool down so by the time the Earth returns to normal the ice caps won't have melted.

So fact or fiction? That's the question and it's your job to figure out the answer.

Answer 4

The ozone layer protects earth from the sun. If it wasnt there earth would be burnt to a crisp. Global warming is occuring because the ozone layer is thinning and getting great holes in it. So Ice glaciers WILL melt under extreme heat from the sun.

Answer 5

the heat is melting the surface ice,the water this produces, then finds its way through the Glacier, this water, then gets under the Glacier.Have you ever been in a car that's aqua-planed?Well thats what happens,the Glacier just slides over the water
at a much greater speed than it should,with no where else to go,they fall into the Ocean to melt!

Answer 6

only in so much as we are coming out of an ice-age. the glaciers are melting because of this. it is all a naturally occurring phenomenon and nothing to be worried about. please do not believe to people who are making a living by trying to scare everyone. do not forget if there is no global warming then all those "scientist" are out of a job, and no longer getting all the grants from the government.

Answer 7

The hole in ozone layer releases ultraviolet light, so much that the heat created by it melts glaciers in the Antarctic region, soon the world will flood

Answer 8

When the polutants go into the air they damage the Ozone layer and make it porous. Then the sun light comes through with higher intensities and increases the temperature of the Earth. This increase in the temperature causes the existing ice lands to melt.
I hope I have been clear.

Answer 9

well, of coarse the glaciers are melting at a fast rate the news is saying in about 30 ywaers if we dont stop global warming the consequences are gonna be irreversible.

Answer 10

Because of global warming, the temperature rises, and that way the glaciers melt.